Haunting Past
by Hex26
Summary: The family finally settle in the Amazon with the rest of the known Spix's Macaws. The neighbouring macaw tribes finally eased their tensions, and the warmongering tribe of bats seem to be satisfied with their share of land. Things are looking up, but soon the kids discover hidden truths and secrets behind those closest to them, and the history of the tribes are looming...
1. Crash and Dash

Tiago stifled a laugh as he continued. Bia shifted a little in her sleep, making Tiago choke down on any of his noise. He tapped the last yellow flower on his sister, and then removed the rest of the evidence. As he shot outside as quietly as he could, he couldn't really hold in his laughter anymore. In Bia's sleep, he had painted her red with yellow polkadots with the flowers that the family used as body paint. They washed off easily, but he still couldn't wait for Bia's reaction when she woke up. He had to wake up so early in the morning, that even Jewel hadn't woken up yet. As he rushed back into his room to hide, Jewel stirred, rudely awakened by Tiago's laughing.

 _What in the world is he up to now?_

She checked around, expecting the usual spider prank on Blu, but didn't find a lurking arachnid anywhere.

 _Besides, Tiago would never wake up so early to pull off a prank_.

Jewel walked to the entrance, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. The sunrise was beautiful as ever, and it was rare for her to ever catch the beginning of it. The crimson light illuminated the waterfall, making it shimmer like refined silver. Hardly anyone was awake yet, and nobody would be until maybe half an hour later. Jewel smiled at the beautiful silence and scenery, leaning against the hollow entrance. It had been two days since the loggers were driven out. Linda and Tulio were still setting up their sanctuary in the nearby deforested area, and it would act as a hospital for any wounded or sick animal the staff met. To make things even better, the fight against the loggers had healed most of the fractures between the scarlet macaw tribe and the Spix's macaw tribe, and the nut grove they lost to the scarlet macaws was returned. Things were finally looking up.

 _Two hours later_

"Alright, you've been snoring enough, get up!" Jewel rolled Blu onto his back, and into the light. He grumbled at the new irritation, and dragged himself awake, yawning and stretching.

"Jewel, the sun just rose," he murmured, still annoyed at the time in which he had to get up.

"No, it didn't. It was up for an hour or two," Jewel nudged Blu again.

"Do we wake the kids?"

"Unlike you, they are already up. Except Bia," Jewel reported. She was admittedly a little annoyed at Bia's nasty habit of sleeping in, like Blu, but if they were both left to sleep, Bia would still be up much earlier. Meanwhile, Tiago seemed to be 'helping'. If Jewel was too busy to wake Blu up, there would always be some kind of creepy crawly to do it for her, thanks to Tiago. Bia became a target for many of his pranks, due to her habit. Meanwhile, Carla learnt to get up at least ten minutes earlier than Tiago most of the time, just to avoid getting pranked.

Tiago didn't seem to stop smiling or chuckling the whole morning. When asked why, he would just smile and go with his usual "Wait and see" answer.

"Hungry?" Jewel asked, indirectly offering to get breakfast.

Before anyone could answer, Bia stumbled out of her room in slight drowsiness. The room entrances weren't on the ground, and as she blundered out, she tripped and fell face first onto the ground, and in the light.

Carla turned to look, with her iPod still in her ears. Carla stared for a few seconds, and burst out laughing. Tiago did the same. Blu and Jewel turned to see what Bia was victim to this time. Jewel almost laughed, but tried to look sternly at Tiago, but failed to do so. Blu covered his face, but his laughing betrayed what he was doing. Bia blinked in confusion at her family's reaction to her appearance.

"What?" She asked, staring at everyone's amused looks.

"Look in the drinking pool!" Tiago chortled, still laughing with Carla. Bia moved over to the drinking pool in the middle of the hollow, and stared in. Her eyes widened at her reflection, and she shrieked and jumped back in shock, staring at her wings. Tiago grabbed his stomach and dropped to the floor, laughing even louder at her reaction.

"Tiago!" Bia charged at her brother, and much to everyone's amusement, the body paint was stained on Tiago as well.

"Hahaha...HEY WAIT WAIT! GET OFF," Tiago shrieked as well, as his feathers were slowly dyed into a messy mixture of red and yellow.

"Yellow polkadots!?" Bia and Tiago tumbled around the room, with Bia wiping her colored wings all over Tiago as he struggled to escape.

"Alright! Alright! Break up you two," Jewel separated the two.

"I'll go get breakfast then," Blu let himself out, still snickering.

Carla was still laughing at the scene, but flew off just in case her siblings tried to dye her as well.

"I need to go and meet up with Mimi over something. Don't get into another fight," Jewel looked at the two briefly before flying away as well.

"One day, Tiago, one day," Bia fumed, trying to brush the body paint off.

Tiago laughed. It wasn't the first time she made the empty threat. The good thing about Bia, was that she cooled off unbelievably fast, unless it was a verbal insult. If it were, then she would do the direct opposite, and provide a heavy grudge for days.

Soon after Bia and Tiago cleaned themselves up (in a more remote area so as to not get themselves seen), and eaten breakfast, Bia stayed inside to read, while Tiago and Carla went out to meet new people. Unlike her first few days in the tribe, Bia began continuing her old habit of reading by herself when their old belongings were transferred from Rio. Carla got a new iPod, Bia had all her books back from Rio, and Blu had gotten a cellphone. Nico, Pedro and the others back at Rio had another cellphone, in which they used to talk over the distance.

As Bia was deep in a book about Amazonia wildlife, she overheard Blu talking to someone at the entrance. With curiosity, she peeked out of her room to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Are you free enough? I really need a babysitter for my two sons," the visitor requested.

"Oh... No sorry, Eduardo wants me in an escort to the scarlet tribe soon," Blu rejected, looking apologetic.

"Oh man, my wife's gonna kill me," the macaw sighed. Bia found that the visitor had a striking personality resemblance to Rafael.

"Is there nobody else that would take the job?" Blu asked, curious.

"Well... Let's just say everybody's... Er... Busy," he said, though not very convincingly. However, Blu bought it, but still couldn't help.

"Well, I'm free," Bia offered.

The visitor looked up, along with Blu to see who offered to.

"Are you sure? You look only a few months older," the macaw hesitated.

"But everyone else is busy isn't it?" Bia reminded.

"Yeah... I guess," the macaw scratched his head a little.

"Bia is babysitting?" Tiago inquired, half dubious.

"Well, she volunteered," Blu shrugged.

"Who's she babysitting?" Carla asked.

"Apparently it's a pair of twins. 'Crash and Dash'. The names are somewhat intimidating," Blu admitted. "But they looked like a pair of sweet kids when I saw them. Alright, I needa go meet up with Roberto and Eduardo to meet Felipe. Bye!"

The two kids waves goodbye as their father flew away to meet the scarlet macaw leader. It was a simple visit, to their knowledge.

"Wanna go check on Bia?" Tiago asked, still amused that his sister would suddenly switch from reading to babysitting.

"We could. I'm interested to see how she's like handling that pair."

"Crash! Don't leave the hollow!" Bia sighed again, holding onto one of the twins. The two were like mini versions of a hyperactive Tiago, and the two wouldn't stop bickering and wrestling.

"But Dash bit me!" Crash whined, still squirming to get out of Bia's wings. It didn't prove to be too hard, Bia didn't have large enough wings to contain the little chick, and he soon wriggled out.

"Oh come on! Stop fighting!" Bia tried to separate the two for the umpteenth time. The two chicks were aptly named, and together, they were like a mini tornado. Bia narrowly prevented them from ramming into walls or ruining the delicate flowers lining the some of hollow walls more than once, and she was slowly getting annoyed. The macaw was half right, she was too young for the job, and the chicks wouldn't take her seriously.

"Your dad told me that you can't leave the hollow," Bia replied firmly as the twins asked to go outside again.

"But it's so boring here," Dash complained.

"What exactly are you going to do outside that makes it different?" Bia asked.

"It just feels better," Crash smiled sweetly. The two were a light shade of blue, a little lighter than Bia's shade. Crash had a crest feather that stuck out, while Dash didn't. It was literally the only defining difference between the two. Bia was probably only slightly taller than the twins.

"Well, your dad said no, you can discuss with him later on," Bia insisted.

"Dad always says no," Crash grumbled.

Kind of like Dad. Bia thought, referring to Blu.

"But you can say yes," Dash requested again.

"No, you can't go out," Bia sighed again.

"Please?"

"Pretty please?"

" _Pleeeaseee_?"

The two gave her puppy eyes, still trying all they could to go out.

"Nuh uh," Bia held firm. It was Carla's trick to give puppy eyes. Blu always caved in to those, while Jewel didn't.

"Did we mention that you look extra pretty today?" Crash laid down an empty compliment, hoping to get on Bia's good side.

"Flattering," Bia replied, though a little sarcastic. "The answer's still no."

The two groaned.

"Aw you are horrible at this!" Dash turned to Crash, referring to the 'art' of getting past Bia.

"Well I don't see you doing anything effective," Crash retorted.

"Hold on, we could try plan B," Dash blatantly stated, causing Bia to raise an eye brow.

"But we don't know if it works on her," Crash huffed.

"Guys, maybe go discuss your diabolical plan to get past me somewhere where I can't hear you?" Bia suggested.

"Nah, suspense is good," Dash laughed.

"Yes, it makes you scared," Crash inferred.

"Why would I be scared of you guys for?" Bia asked, half amused, but quite frankly half scared as well. They were after all almost her size.

"Your tone betrays you!" Crash said, trying to spook Bia further.

"I can smell your fear!" Dash continued.

"Very scary," Bia commented in heavy sarcasm.

"We needa try plan B," Crash suggested.

"Yep, I hate sarcasm too," Dash agreed.

"And what's this plan of yours?" Bia asked.

"Well, it needs a certain thing to be true for it to work. Can I ask you something?" Dash inquired.

"It depends on what it is," Bia replied, but he asked anyways.

"Are you ticklish?" Dash asked.

Bia hesitated for a moment, before answering in a rushed tone.

"No."

"Aw come on, Mom and Dad let a lier babysit us?" Crash teased.

"What?" Bia replied, a little surprised that the two could tell.

"You're obviously lying," Dash laughed. The two took a step toward Bia, and caused her to edge back a little.

"What are you two up to?" Bia asked, trying to maintain a voice of authority that wasn't really there in the first place.

"Just let us out," Crash groaned again.

"Crash, you can't even fly properly yet," Bia tried reasoning.

"Yep, let's do it," Dash smiled.

"We've been searching for so long. The tree has to be somewhere,"

Tiago grumbled. They couldn't seem to find the tree where Bia was at, and they had already spent about thirty minutes.

"It has to be this one. There are none left," Carla comforted.

"That's what you said four trees ago," Tiago rolled his eyes.

"Yea I know. Too bad you're not as gullible as before," Carla snickered.

"Hey!"

"Wait a minute, I hear something," Carla and Tiago halted, listening intently. There is was, someone laughing. Bia's laughing.

"This way," Carla led, with Tiago close behind.

Soon the two stumbled on the tree where Crash, Dash and Bia were in. The two laughed at the sight. Bia was getting pinned down by the two and tickled. They could do it with ease, since Bia wasn't exactly known for her physical strength, and the both of them were easily as heavy as she was.

"Just allow us already," Crash whined.

"Nehever!" Bia laughed, squirming around, trying to get free. While she was doing so, she caught sight of Tiago and Carla staring.

"Guys! Hehehlp me!"

"Daw, but you look so cute together," Carla laughed.

"Just help me!" Bia laughed as well, though hers wasn't as voluntary.

"Yea okay, we should," Carla carried Crash, while Tiago lifted Dash. The twins squirmed around the new grasps, and Dash managed to escape Tiago and get loose.

"Hey no fair!" Crash complained,

"With siblings like you, who needs enemies," Bia muttered, getting up, and stroking down her ruffled feathers.

"Careful, we leave you three alone again anytime," Tiago smirked.

With three to two, the twins couldn't try much anymore, and went back to their annoying and restless stages of wrestling and bickering. Soon Crash and Dash's parents came back, and the tiring session was finally over.

It was already nearing early evening, and the trio headed home to rest for the day, especially Bia.

"Now I know how Mom and Dad feel like taking care of you," Carla commented, referring to Tiago.

"I ain't half as bad!" Tiago insisted.

"Yea you're not half as bad, you're easily twice as bad," Bia smirked.

"Aw why is that?"

"You painted me red with yellow polkadots, Tiago," Bia reminded.

The siblings, including Bia, laughed at the memory.

"Well, that's not as bad as them yet. They attacked you within an hour of knowing you," Tiago said.

"You know what else you three have in common?" Carla beamed.

Tiago looked in curiosity, and shook his head.

"You're all so adorable!" She laughed.


	2. Intruding Prescence

Blu, Eduardo and Roberto flew quietly and swiftly through the trees toward the scarlet macaw territories. They were supposed to be on a "routine" visit, but Felipe had actually called them for a secret meeting to discuss something amiss. The messenger wasn't informed of much, and didn't know what it was about, but he stressed that Felipe wanted the meeting's content to be hidden from anyone else, other than Eduardo's most trusted. If possible, hide from the territory sentries, the messenger added.

The three snuck past a scarlet macaw patrol, and slinked through the undergrowth to reach Felipe's hollow. The usual guards were missing, and there was a forbidding aura radiating from it. Blu landed inside last, and was greeted by some whispering. Felipe noticed their arrival, and signaled for the meeting to pause.

"I'm glad that you can make it," he greeted, though with not much heart. His didn't seem like his usual self, and he seemed angry and frustrated about something. The blue macaws looked at each other in slight worry, fearing that something was terribly wrong.

"Eduardo, this issue is highly sensitive. The peace between us can be severed if this gets out," Felipe explained, gravely serious.

Eduardo nodded for him to continue.

"I'm sure you all know Andre," the scarlet macaw leader started. Blu's blank look betrayed him.

"There was a war between the two tribes before. A savage one. There were many casualties, but the Spix macaw tribe was still winning. That was until a young scarlet macaw named Andre turned the tide of the whole thing with a destructive attack right at our old home. Andre is celebrated in the scarlet macaw tribe, but many still hate him in our tribe," Eduardo explained in a somewhat neutral tone.

"Not anymore. He was killed," Felipe said simply.

"Killed?!" Eduardo asked, shocked.

"Is there any proof who did it?" Roberto asked.

Felipe glanced at him in suspicion, but decided that he wasn't trying to probe.

"The only thing I found as proof were blue feathers," Felipe murmured.

A deadly silence continued, and only the faint noises of rustling leaves could be heard.

"Get out of your room!" Tiago groaned, dragging Bia by her tail.

"Lemme sleep," Bia said, half yawning, and half heartedly trying to grab the floor, but to not much effect.

"Come on, you've never met the others before!" Tiago grunted as Bia grabbed onto something particularly sturdy.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Tiago cried out, as he found that Bia was hugging a stack of books.

"Get out!" He pulled at Bia, but she wouldn't budge.

A noise, that sounded like a jaguar growling, echoed through the hollow as Tiago pushed the whole stack toward the entrance. Carla was still in the main room, staring at Bia's room in amusement. Soon, Bia dropped out of the entrance, one of the books following closely.

"Ow!" A book fell on Bia's head, knocking her awake.

"I should try that next time," Tiago said, somewhat triumphant, but mostly irritated, at finally hauling his sister out.

"Come on! They're waiting," Carla dragged Bia out, where a pair of kids stood, watching the show.

"Not used to waking up early?" One of them asked, and the other laughed when Bia responded with a yawn.

"No, just used to sleeping late," Bia corrected. She turned and shot her siblings a "Can I go now?" look, but Tiago and Carla weren't planning on letting her off the hook so easily.

"Meet Bia," Tiago introduced.

"Hi," she greeted back.

The group snickered again, though Bia couldn't really understand why.

"What's so funny?"

"Nice style," one of them pointed.

The rest started laughing again, as Bia felt her crest feathers with a wing. They were standing like little weeds, and she looked like a sort of living bush. She combed down her crest feathers into a neater arrangement with her wings, grumbling in embarrassment.

"I'm Bruno, this is Ana," the male introduced. "Nice to meet you."

As the group engaged in a hearty conversation, Tiago's feathers spiked a little, and his instincts started ringing. He felt like they were being...watched. He turned around, and to his worry, a bush rustled as he did so.

"Anybody home?"

Tiago was jolted from from his worries as Bruno tapped him.

"We're going to the nut groves, ya comin'?"

"Sure."

The invitation washed away his fears, and Tiago gladly followed as the rest headed for the grove. The group heard nothing as a mysterious figure tailed them.

"This is bad. This is terrible! " Blu was panicking in Eduardo's hollow, while the tribe chief was deep in thought. Roberto stood in one corner, not too sure about what to say.

"This is a delicate situation. We need to handle it carefully," Eduardo murmured, still pondering. He didn't send anybody to attack anyone, and the idea of a hateful blue Spix macaw was rather worrying. Who in the right state of mind would shatter a peace they tried so hard to achieve?

It didn't make sense. None of it made sense.

B

"Oh my god. What have I done," Bia groaned, knocking her head against a trunk.

"It isn't that bad... Is it?" Bruno asked.

"Oh it _is_ bad. And I _agreed_ to it," Bia said neutrally, as if accepting her fate.

"You've done it before, you can do it again," Carla comforted. In the groves, the kids met Aline and Daniel (Crash and Dash's parents), and long story short, Bia agreed to look after the twins every few days, just to avoid saying that the twins were unbearable.

"What could they possibly have done that makes it that bad?" Ana asked.

"They are hyper active, nearly my size each, annoying, and hmm... What else... Ah, yes. Uncontrollable."

"That was simply so awkward," Tiago chuckled, referring to the conversation Bia had with Daniel.

"That's so funny, I forgot to laugh," Bia said sarcastically.

"Guys? Did you see that?" Carla interrupted, pointing into a dense cluster of leaves. A flash of blue was seen, as if reacting to Carla's statement.

"There's someone over there!" Tiago hissed, shooting after the bird. The rest started to follow, but stopped when they noticed that Tiago had lost the culprit.

"Where did he go?" Tiago looked around in frustration, trying to relocate his target.

"That was...creepy," Ana murmured, already put on edge.

"I wonder who that was," Bia wondered.

"Maybe we're all just a little edgy. It might have been a butterfly or something," Bruno persuaded. The group agreed for the time being.

"I have never seen a blue butterfly here," Bia frowned. She had spent a whole day looking for the insects before, and was peeved to know that there was probably another species she didn't find in the area.

"Maybe we should go back," Ana suggested, already facing home.

"Yes, let's do that."

Everyone soon began the journey back, and Bia, who left last, peered around the trees uncertainly before going along with them. Her feathers spiked a little as she felt a tingle in her gut. The stranger was probably watching them again.

"How was your day?" Blu asked with a mask of cheerfulness.

"It was fine," Tiago replied, biting into a fruit, making a soft squelch as he did.

"How was yours?" Carla asked.

"It has been a strange day," Blu replied, still trying to keep his worrying away from his family.

"Same," Bia replied. She peered out of the hollow, expecting something. Blu couldn't help but notice just how edgy his kids were.

"How long is Mom going to be with Aunt Mimi?" Carla asked, changing the subject.

"Till tonight. They seemed to have a lot to discuss when I left," Blu recalled.

The kids soon scoffed down their food again, Tiago had scheduled a meet up in a few minutes. Everyone except Bia agreed to be there. She simply wanted some time to finish a book before joining the rest. Tiago and Carla rushed off, already a little late. Blu soon made an exit as well, for a 'chat with Popop and Roberto'.

The silence was ideal to Bia, and she briefly pushed the paranoia of the morning to a corner of her mind, and flipped open a thick book. She was about done, just a chapter left.

 _Crack_

Bia looked up, interrupted by the sound of a crunched twig. Her heart froze briefly, and she tensed up, staring at her room entrance. A feeling of fear churned in her gut as she watched, waiting silently for another sound.

 _Crack_

It was like someone got off a twig they stepped on, albeit very carefully to try and avoid making noise. Bia edged back, but realized, to her dismay, that she was as good as trapped. Her eyes fixed on the only way into her room, refusing to look anywhere else.

Another noise broke the silence. The sound of wings flapping. The culprit had escaped, and vanished. Bia slowly moved out, and peered around the hollow. There was nobody in sight, much to her relief. She looked back uneasily. No way she could enjoy her story with someone spying on her that way. With a sigh, she stroked down her spiked feathers and went to meet up with the rest, only to find them just outside the tree.

"I'm telling you! I saw some random guy sneak out of my hollow!" Carla seemed to be calm despite her statement. The conversation was cut short as Bia flew out.

"Bia, did you see someone in the hollow?" Bruno asked, still staring at the surroundings for any kind of clue.

"No, but I think I heard someone," Bia replied. While she felt like she was slowly going into a panic, everyone else seemed calm, much to her annoyance.

"Well, we have good news," Tiago said. "Carla believes that the stalker is a kid around our age. At least we won't be harmed or something."

"But the bad news is, only she got a brief glimpse of the culprit, so it may or may not be true," Ana continued.

"Why would anyone, let alone some kid, follow us everywhere?" Bia crossed her wings, clearly irritated by the whole thing. It was like an annoying thorn stuck in her privacy.

"I can't even enjoy a book without that creepy feeling that someone's watching me!"

"Well, maybe we should setup some kind of trap. It is probably just a kid after all," Tiago suggested, eyes already lighting up at the word 'trap'.

"And how do you plan to do that?"

Carla grumbled as she flew alone through the grove. The plan was literally for the rest to hide in Blu and Jewel's room, and for Carla to fly a round through the groves and head back, to pick up the stalker. When he attempted to enter, there would be multiple traps awaiting him, including everyone else. She reached the middle, picked a nut, and acted natural as she cracked it open. She peered around, and much to her annoyance, she didn't have the creepy feeling. It was like it didn't exist. She chewed slowly on the nut, looking blankly in a direction, before tossing the shell aside and heading back. Still no sign of the stalker.

Back at the hollow, where everyone was huddled, and waiting, Tiago peered patiently out of the room entrance, expecting Carla to be back any minute. Everyone else sat in silence, anticipating the results.

Some fluttering revealed that Carla had returned. She walked casually to her room, and went inside. Some silent humming echoed through the hollow, as she plugged in her earphones and turned on her iPod. Still nothing.

"Okay this is getting ridiculous," Bia grumbled softly. They had been encamped for nearly an hour, and there was still no sign of the stalker.

"Maybe he heard us discussing the plan," Ana whispered.

"Uh oh," Tiago muttered.

"What?"

"Everyone out! Mom's back!"

Sure enough Jewel was close to the hollow. The kids shot out, and Bruno hid in Tiago's room, while Ana hid behind Bia's stack of books.

"Hi Mom," Tiago greeted innocently as Jewel landed at the entrance. Jewel peered around, looking out of anything out of place.

"You sound guilty. What did you do this time?" Jewel sighed as she asked.

"I didn't do anything," Tiago whined, stopping his innocent tone.

"Just like the time you sounded that horn," Jewel crossed her wings, staring in slight amusement.

"I said it before, that wasn't me," Tiago rolled his eyes.

"I'll take your word for it. For now," Jewel smiled.

"Where's Bia?" She asked, noting the humming from Carla's room.

"She's reading."

"What are you doing home?"

"Nothing."

"Okay then, I hope it stays that way," Jewel opened her wings, prepared to leave again.

"Wait, did you come back just to check on us?"

Jewel looked back as she replied.

"Yes. Try not to destroy the hollow."

With that, Jewel left, looking for Blu and Eduardo. Tiago sighed in relief, and coaxed out Bruno and Ana.

"That was close," Bruno commented, looking out of the hollow.

"Indeed," Ana agreed. She let out a sneeze, then rubbed her nose, sniffing.

"What are those things in Bia's room? They're so dusty..." She complained.

"They are books," Bia replied, perched on her room entrance. "What now? It seems like our little trap failed."

"If it's just a kid, why don't we just ignore him?" Bruno suggested. After all, it wasn't all that dangerous if they were indeed dealing with a kid from their tribe.

"I can't. He snuck into this hollow to peek at me!" Bia said crossly, irritated that Bruno could say such a thing.

"Maybe we can try the same thing, but with Bia?" Tiago suggested.

"What's the difference?" Ana asked, skeptical about the success of the plan.

"Well, the kid got the closest to Bia isn't it? Maybe he's only stalking Bia," Tiago explained.

"Thanks for putting my mind at ease," Bia groaned. "There should be doors in this hollow as well. It's the only thing I'd want from our old house in Rio."

"Just get on with it! We only have a few hours left in the day," Tiago shooed. Bia grumbled as she stretched out her wings, and took flight. She had to circle the groves, just like Carla had. And this time, the stalker would hopefully follow.


	3. To catch a Spix's macaw

_My heart thumped slightly as I followed. It has been nearly five or six hours. I've been trailing her all over the place, and yet I still can't get myself to meet her. There's something about her that makes me feel weird. My stomach would be in knots and my heart would beat faster every time I saw her. Well, even by following, I'm doing a bad job hiding myself. They supposedly have some plan to see who I am, but I managed to hear it out. Even then, they'd find out about me soon, unless I decide to meet them first. She's alone now, it would be easy. Or I could just give up and disappear._

 _She stopped._

 _This is my chance._

Bia stood at the same spot, leaning against a tree in a somewhat remote place. If anything, this would be the place where the stalker would be watching. She wanted to peer around, but figured that doing so would ward off the target. There was a continuous faint rustle of leaves as the wind breezed across the trees. It was a very quiet place. Bia tensed a little, as she felt the branch she was perched on creak downwards by a fraction. She turned around, seeing nothing. But there was the new feeling of fear as she stood, staring around, scouring the trees for details. An intrusive rustle sounded, and Bia swerved to look at the source. A dense pack of leaves. She edged closer, wanting to shift the leaves aside, a little fearful of what she might find. She stopped in front of the cluster, hesitating on whether to see what was behind or not. She gulped, and swiftly peered through the dense pack of leaves. Nothing, except for a Brazil nut balanced carefully on a group of branches. Bia frowned, and picked it from its position. Something was amiss, and it didn't take long for Bia to figure it out. That part of the grove didn't have any Brazil nut trees.

The moment Bia had set foot in the hollow, a vine tightened around her ankle, and she yelped as she was hosted upside down in a flash.

"Tiago!" She yelled, after recovering from her shock.

"Sorry! I was getting too fidgety," Tiago appeared from a corner, and, without warning, bit through the vine suspending Bia. His sister let out another yelp before dropping face first into the hollow floor. Bruno and Carla soon peeked out of the latter's room, and Ana popped out from Bia's room.

"Well you just ruined that long wait," Carla groaned, crossing her wings as she stared at Tiago.

"Guys, tone down, I think I can confirm something," Bia whispered. Everyone huddled a little closer, eager to hear what she had to say.

"I believe our dear friend doesn't mean any harm," Bia continued in a soft voice. She held out a talon, with what seemed like a small Brazil nut in its grasp. "I have adequate reasons to believe that the stalker left me this."

"What if it's poisoned?" Tiago asked, chuckling a little. His amusement died off as he realized that nobody reacted.

"Well, it might just be a shy person," Ana whispered.

"Or an admirer," Carla smiled at Bia.

"That's ridiculous, nobody even sees me most of the time," Bia huffed, but partly believed that it was the case.

"Yea, we never even seen Bia until three days after we met Tiago and Carla," Bruno agreed.

"Wow, that long?" Bia asked, somewhat dumbfounded. Her siblings had been bugging her for quite some time to meet some friends, but she couldn't believe that it had been so long.

"Yes, it was always 'later, I'm almost done with this chapter' or something," Tiago recalled.

"Well, back to the point, what do we do about the stalker?" Ana interrupted.

"We could coax him out, or leave Bia alone for a long time," Carla suggested. "He might just be shy after all."

"Yes, we could leave Bia alone," Tiago grinned. "And spy on her from somewhere hidden. We might find her _lover_."

"Ha ha," Bia grunted sarcastically, but then realized that everyone was agreeing with Tiago's plan.

"You can't, be serious," she rolled her eyes.

"Well, it isn't totally bad," Ana tried to convince.

"Hiding from a hider is pretty impossible if you ask me."

"Oh come on, it's nearly evening, just try it out? We don't have anything to lose," Carla groaned, already ready to try anything to expose whoever was stalking them.

In that one sided decision, Bia was again pushed out to 'attract' the culprit. She flew deep into the grove once again, into a quiet area, and waited. She knew Tiago and Ana were following somewhere, but didn't hear or spot them.

"Hello?" Bia called out.

As she expected, no reply.

"Come on, I know you're watching somewhere," she coaxed again.

Still no reply. She crossed her wings, then glanced around.

"This doesn't seem to be working," Tiago whispered to Ana.

"Give it a chance, it has only been a few seconds," Ana replied, and hushed Tiago before he could retort.

"Wait, look!" Tiago hissed, pointing at a thick cluster of leaves. Ana squinted to see what he was pointing at, and for a moment, failed to. But after some time, she made out a blue figure concealed among the leaves.

"What do we do?" Ana whispered back.

"Let's see what he's doing."

A faint rustle gave the intruder's position away to Bia. She slowly turned to face the leaves, squinting at the area. She could faintly make out a tint of blue, just behind the leaves. She took a few slow steps closer. The leaves rustled a little as she got closer.

"Hello?" Bia called out softly, extending a wing toward the leaves. She yelped and jumped back in shock as a figure violently shot out of the bush in a burst of speed. Bia could make out two blurs following as Tiago and Ana shot after the culprit.

"Slow down! We just want to meet you!" Ana yelled out at the escaping macaw, but as expected, he didn't respond.

"Stop or I'll stop you for you!" Tiago yelled nonsensically.

"Stop following me!" A faint voice seemed to echo a reply.

"It's not like we're trying to cook you! Just slow down!" Ana shouted, getting somewhat impatient. The macaw swerved to a side, and the pursuers swerved to follow, but a fruit was thrown at Tiago, momentarily blinding him. He yelped in confusion, and rammed into Ana in his disorientated flying, causing both to plummet into the soft shrubbery below. Tiago groaned as he got up, spitting out a leaf. Ana picked herself up, swiping leaves out of her feathers. Her emerald eyes blinked in annoyance as she proceeded to stroke down her messy feathers.

"You okay?" Tiago asked, picking a leaf off her head.

"I'm fine, but we lost him," Ana groaned.

"Well I wouldn't exactly say that he was lost," Bia cut in. Ana and Tiago peered at her, and gaped as they saw Bruno and Carla pinning down a macaw. He was built like Tiago, thin and streamlined, but his feathers were a light shade of blue, and he had 2 protruding crest feathers that stuck out awkwardly. The rest of his feathers looked disheveled, and his wings were small for his size. He pried himself loose, and almost took flight again when Bruno tackled him onto the forest floor.

"Oh no you don't," he laughed in triumph as he pinned down the bird again.

"Who are you?" Carla asked, walking around the macaw, as if inspecting him for anything amiss.

"You... Don't need to know," he blurted out without really thinking. His struggling didn't cease, but it wasn't doing much under Bruno's weight either.

"You can be here a long time if you stick with that thought," Ana reminded him of his current state. He looked around him, and groaned as he finally understood that there was no way out.

"Caio," he sighed.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Bia asked rhetorically.

"No," he smiled at her. "Not at all."

"Okay, why are you stalking us?" Bia asked sternly, instantly wiping the smile off his face.

"I... Er... Wasn't stalking you?" He replied, sounding more like he was asking a question, but his somewhat guilty look gave away his already obvious lie fully.

"You can be here all day long," Ana yawned, peering at the sun.

"But," he began, but was cut off by Tiago.

"No buts, just answer the question," Tiago said, still annoyed at how Caio hurled a fruit in his face.

"Okay," he sighed, and squirted out a lie again. "I did it for fun."

Everyone stared at him with amusement.

"You can't possibly spend hours stalking us, and think that it's fun!" Carla stated crossly.

"I could try squishing him," Bruno suggested.

"What?" Caio squeaked, and started trying to scramble out again.

"Nobody's squishing anybody," Bia groaned, and Caio calmed down a little. "Unless you still don't want to tell us the reason."

"But that was my reason!" He whined, temporarily stopping his struggling. Bruno squeezed him, causing him to squeak a little, and continue struggling, trying to pull himself out by grabbing onto nearby grass.

"Okay! Okay!" Caio wheezed, and Bruno eased the pressure.

"We're waiting," Bia tapped her foot slowly, staring at Caio in annoyance.

"Please don't make me say it," he begged.

"Why, is it that weird of a reason?" Carla rolled her eyes. He hesitated for a moment, not understanding that he question was rhetorical.

"Maybe."

His reply drew in more weird stares, and he reddened slightly, and squirmed uncomfortably.

"What now?" Bia asked after a period of awkward silence.

"Let me go?" Caio asked hopefully.

"You haven't told us why yet," Bruno reminded.

"Just spit it out!" Ana groaned in frustration at their captive's stubbornness.

"I...can't," he replied, and everyone groaned as they were back at square one. Bia brightened as she thought of something.

"Hey guys. Remember Crash and Dash?" Bia smirked. Tiago and Carla smiled knowingly, while Bruno and Ana looked in confusion.

"W..what about them?" Caio asked, already intimidated by the notorious twins' names.

"Oh, so you know them?" Bia asked.

"Yes, I had to take care of them once," he replied with a slime, with a strangely calmer tone.

"Stop smiling at me like that! It's giving me the creeps," Bia took a step back.

"Hold on, I know what he was doing!" Ana boomed, and everyone turned to look.

 _Please don't guess it, please don't guess it_... Caio's mind could only imagine the embarrassment he'd get if they managed to guess.

"He has a crush on Bia!" Ana laughed.

" _What?!_ " Bia screeched. Despite all the proof of it, she still found it dubious, until Ana said it flatly in front of her. Even then, she still could not bring herself to believe it, until she noticed Caio covering his head with a wing, shielding his beetroot face from everyone.

"Stop joking around," Bruno laughed, not believing any of it. And much to Caio's (and Bia's) relief, everybody else decided to take it as a joke as well.

"This is getting old," Tiago muttered. "And I still want my revenge," he smiled sweetly at Caio, causing the captive to gulp.

"Who are your parents?" Carla asked out of pure curiosity. Caio shook his head furiously, not wanting anybody to know.

"Can I please go now?" He asked again.

"But we still have so many questions," Carla continued.

"Like why did you leave that Brazil nut for Bia?"

"As a random gift?" He replied in his 'invented on the spot' tone.

"Okay, he's lying again, definitely," Ana stated the obvious.

"Okay. Ever heard of the twins' plan B?" Bia smirked.


	4. New Blood

"Mimi," Jewel said in a firm tone. Her aunt had been dodging her question for a few days, and Jewel was getting frustrated.

"What happened to Mom?" She asked for the umpteenth time. Mimi sighed, finding no way to weasel out of the question, now that she asked so directly. Besides, she couldn't be kept in the dark forever.

"Jewel, she was devastated after she lost you," Mimi started. "Crystal became so easily frustrated, and wouldn't talk to anyone for such a long time. And when she finally did, she did so to declare to Eduardo that she was leaving the tribe," Mimi continued sadly.

Jewel's face seemed to lighten up with hope from her previous dark mood, and she frantically shot a question at Mimi.

"She's still alive?"

Mimi looked momentarily shocked at her reaction, not too sure what to say to her. A lone macaw with questionable sanity all on her own outside, what were the chances? Not to mention that she was still hiding something from Jewel, and Mimi hoped with all her heart that she would never need to know.

Caio groaned as he got up in the morning with aching muscles. He shivered as a tingle went through his body, from the reserves of yesterday's events. He smiled dreamily at the thought recalled memory, mostly about a specific someone's laugh. It was directed at him though. His parents were long out, leaving him to his own devices. Again. He lightened up as he remembered a piece of information that was simply crucial to him. He spread out his numb wings, and took flight, almost stumbling in the process.

"How's the view?" Crash asked, poking Bia's wing. It was one of 'those' days, where Bia had to babysit the twins. Within a few minutes, the two had tied her up, and suspended her upside down from the ceiling. A vine held both of Bia's talons, and Crash's action caused her to start spinning very slowly as the vine turned.

"The view's great," she replied with an unamused face, with her wings crossed as she blankly looked forward.

"When can I get down?" Bia asked, still wearing her emotionless look.

"You're unable to do it yourself?" Dash mocked, and pushed her hard. Bia sighed as she involuntarily rocked from side to side as the twins pushed her like a swing. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and...

"How's the view?" Someone asked. The twins paused, and turned to look, but Bia couldn't turn to see who it was in her suspended state.

"What? Who is that?" She struggled to look, but the vines rocked the wrong way, and her efforts were futile.

"Hey, it's Caio!" Dash pointed out. Bia grumbled upon hearing it, and glared at a wall, imagining Caio's smug face.

"Real original joke. Even the twins made it before you," Bia commented.

"What are you doing here?" Crash asked, facing in a direction where Bia assumed where Caio was.

"Was checking on you two of course," he laughed, and Bia rolled her eyes.

"Wait, didn't we agree on a nickname for Caio?" Crash asked his brother, and the two smiled evilly as they recalled.

"How do you two still remember after all that time?" Caio stared in disbelief, slightly embarrassed to see that Bia was about to hear what the twins would call him.

"Oh, we can always remember our babysitters," Dash smirked.

"Just like we remember you, Pineapple," Crash laughed, along with Bia and Dash. Caio stared in annoyance, but his expression couldn't hide the deep blush that was forming at the sound of Bia's laughter.

"Pineapple?" Bia asked dubiously, still snickering.

"I used to have this extra crest feather, and my head looked like the top of a pineapple," Caio explained without really thinking. He silently groaned and smacked his forehead as he realized what he just did.

"Hey!" Crash noticed his beetroot face, and went closer. "He's as red as a scarlet macaw!"

"Aw, is this too embarrassing for you?" Bia asked upside down, still with her back turned.

"He... Er... Must be talking about my face paint," Caio lied, grabbing Crash and placing a wing over his beak. Crash grumbled in his muffle, and squirmed around, while Dash laughed at his brother.

"Guys, at least turn me around?" Bia sighed, still forced to stare at a wall.

"But I thought you liked the wall," Dash teased. The first thing Bia had to do was grab Crash before he rammed into a wall.

"When's Daniel coming back?" Caio asked. Unlike most of the families, where the parents took turns to take care of the children, Daniel was the one that was stuck with the responsibility most of the time, and he pushes it to someone else just as often.

"Well, maybe in ten minutes or so," Bia replied, roughly estimating the timing. "Can you guys please untie me? This is getting really annoying, and I think I can feel my head bursting."

"Tiago, this feels...wrong, and dangerous," Carla fussed, refusing to go forward.

"Oh come on, it's just the outskirts! Don't you wanna see outside the land?" Tiago peered beyond the trees, trying to spot something interesting. Tiago and Carla were exploring around the borders, and not, they were at an area where the land was supposedly unoccupied. It was still in the sanctuary though.

"No I don't. Nothing's more beautiful than the waterfall in our home isn't it," Carla stated with confidence.

"We'll never know unless we see for ourselves," Tiago reasoned.

"Shh, wait, did you hear that?" Carla hushed, looking in a direction. It sounded like faint chanting and cheering.

"This way!" Tiago shot toward the noise, with Carla following closely.

"Tiago! We're supposed to go _away_ from the weird noises!" Carla hissed in frustration as her brother shot forward.

"Just relax for once," Tiago grumbled, and continued forward. They were definitely out of the boundary by a significant amount, and Carla didn't like it one bit.

"Look," Tiago stared, landing quietly on a branch. Carla landed just as stealthily, peering at the scene. Both were dazed by the events unfolding before them. A ragged Spix's macaw was growling at a yellow macaw, and the two were surrounded by crowds of birds and bats, all of different sizes and species. It was like a coliseum. The crowds were a forbidding bunch, all with unruly feathers or hair, cheering rowdily at one of the two in the middle. Carla and Tiago watched in horror as the yellow macaw lunged forward, commencing the fight. The Spix's macaw swerved to a side, avoiding her opponent's clawing talons, and bit into his tail, hard. The yellow macaw screeched in pain, and his ability to fly was compromised as the Spix's macaw savagely ripped out a large cluster of feathers together. Before the yellow macaw could react, the Spix's macaw head butted her opponent, causing him to fall backward. He quickly got up, standing his ground, while the other took advantage of her ability to fly. The Spix's macaw dived from the sky with outstretched talons, and the yellow macaw attempted to dodge, but one of the talons scraped from his shoulder to his chest. He ignored the pain, and bit onto his attacker's talon, and swung her against the ground.

"What is this?" Carla whispered, shivering at the sight of the brutal fight. Tiago was speechless, shocked by the whole thing. His eyes were uncontrollably glued to the fight, although he flinched when either one was hurt.

As the fight continued, it became clear that the yellow macaw's initial injury was becoming a major disadvantage as his opponent dived from the sky again and again. Carla gasped in horror as she realized that the two were going to fight to the death.

"Tiago! We need to get out of here!" She pulled him hard, and he snapped out of his shocked trance, and flew toward the Spix's macaw tribe home with Carla, both shaken by the situation.

Back at the battle, the yellow macaw was severely crippled. Gashes and long, jagged scratches covered a worrying amount of his body. Blood was drying up on his feathers, changing some of his yellow coat into a dirty brown.

"Face it, you've lost," the Spix's macaw growled, stepping closer, ready to finish the job.

"I'd rather die than serve you," he growled, standing his ground even with all his injuries.

"Stubbornness will be the end of you."

His weakened physique couldn't defend against the last blow. Parts of the crowd cheered, while others muttered in disappointment. The Spix's macaw looked up in triumph, taking a deep breath.

 _The smell of victory_.

"Popop!"

A frantic cry distracted Eduardo and Blu and they turned to look, shocked at the call. Tiago and Carla landed, panting.

"Oh my goodness, what's wrong? You look like ghosts!" Blu fussed over the two, bending down so that he could check if they had any visible injury.

"We saw a group of birds outside the territory, and we saw one of us fighting a yellow macaw, while the rest around them were cheering!" Carla gasped, all in one go.

"What species are the birds?" Eduardo asked, his feathers suddenly spiking.

"We don't know...Many types...there were even some bats," Tiago wheezed, doubled over, panting for air.

"The Outcasts," Eduardo murmured.

"Ou..Outcasts?" Blu stammered, hoping that they weren't what they sounded like.

"Call a meeting. Send someone to inform Felipe to join in. Things are getting serious."

"Just about an hour ago, members of my tribe spotted the Outcast encampment," Eduardo started the meeting, and upon the mention of 'Outcast', there were mutters of worry.

"How close?" Felipe asked.

"Too close for comfort. It's within the zone of the human sanctuary," Eduardo replied gravely.

"And here's the news. My members didn't just see an encampment. They witnessed a power seize, and from their descriptions, it seems like a new Outcast leader has prevailed."

There was an uproar. The Outcasts were a ragtag tribe of rejected birds and bats, that banded together for the sake of safety in numbers. While the bat tribes were aggressive in nature, they were at the very least, reasonable and honorable. The Outcasts were easily twice as aggressive, highly unreasonable and unpredictable. And that was with their old leader. Now that a new leader has emerged, the threat of being attacked is fresh. The Outcasts didn't use to be such a problem, but when the Pit of Doom matches were implemented to prevent unnecessary bloodshed, there were several angry macaws that were completely unsatisfied with the solution, and they were expelled from their tribes. That, or they left the tribe on their own. Since then, the Outcasts stopped their pacifist status, and grew worryingly strong. They seized territory quickly, but halted their advance a year or so ago for reasons unknown.

Eduardo bristled at the memory. It was the day his mate left him. The day Crystal left him. And the last thing he heard from her was a mock of contempt. After losing Jewel, Joaane mental state fluctuated, and she had frequent mood swings, and continuously commuted unreasonable actions. Among the ones who defected from the tribe due to the Pit of Doom agreement, Crystal was the angriest at the agreement, and she believed that anyone who agreed with it was a coward and a disgrace. After an argument with Eduardo, she left the tribe with a few macaws, never to be seen again.

"Shut up you all! You're noisier than a bunch of chicks!" Felipe yelled, effectively silencing the chattering macaws.

"Do we meet up with them to see who it is?" Felipe asked gruffly.

"I have a hunch that I know who it is. And if I'm right, we're all in a lot of trouble," Eduardo replied, blankly gazing at the sky.


	5. Cold Reunion

**A/N There was a mix-up in the previous chapter, and Jewel's mother ended up getting two names (Joanne and Crystal), and I corrected it all to Crystal. Sorry for any confusion.**

* * *

Bia felt a wave of unease the moment she stepped into the hollow. Carla's music was barely audible, and she couldn't hear her sister humming or singing, and that jutted out like a rock from Carla's normal habits. Tiago was in his room early, and was making way too little noise for comfort. Blu was in the room, and Bia could hear faint mumbling from within, and Jewel was pacing around near the entrance, murmuring about something.

"What's going on?" Bia asked, to no one in particular. Jewel snapped out of her murmuring and Blu and Tiago peeked out from their rooms. Carla probably didn't hear her over her music. A momentary silence was present as everyone hesitated to say anything.

"Okay, never mind," Bia slowly walked to her room, looking in confusion at her family members.

"We have a grandma that probably just killed someone," Tiago blurted out, causing Blu and Jewel to groan at his direct answer.

"We have a _what_ that _what_?!"

Bia's screech was loud enough for Carla to notice, and she looked out her room shortly after.

"Look, this is a complicated situation, please don't poke around it," Jewel sighed, rubbing her head, trying to ease away the gnawing problems.

"We have a grandma?" Bia asked again, ignoring what Jewel had warned.

"Bia, it is overly complicated," Jewel still refused to say anything. Bia frowned. She would have to get it out of Tiago or Carla now.

* * *

"Madame, what is our first order of business?" A scarlet macaw asked her group's new matriarch.

"Why don't we pay our neighbors a visit? I'm sure they miss us," the Outcast matriarch smirked.

"It's time to cease our dormant state. It's time to take our revenge, bit by bit. Let's start with that ridiculous little pit. It would make a fine outpost."

* * *

"Let me get this straight... Jewel's mother is alive, and you and Carla saw her kill an Outcast tribe's old leader, and now she's the Outcasts' new matriarch, and she would most likely attack us?" Bia asked, somewhat worried, hoping that Tiago was exaggerating somewhere.

"Yeah, that's what I heard," Tiago replied, slowly nodding.

"It's something I hope I can forget," Carla shivered at the memory.

"I can't believe that's...our grandma," Bia admitted, unable to believe that an Outcast's daughter would be a near direct opposite.

"Well, there is a small chance that it isn't," Tiago stated. "We only know the new leader is a female Spix's macaw."

"I am going to go out and get some fresh air. Maybe meet with the others to forget about all that," Carla turned to leave. Bia and Tiago followed, hoping to do the same.

To the kid's relief, Bruno, Ana and Caio had no idea about the recent news, and soon, the siblings had managed to shove the worrying thoughts into a corner, temporarily forgetting them as the group commenced a game of catch. Jewel watched from the hollow, worrying about future events. It would be terrible for something to happen. After so many years, she couldn't imagine her caring, loving mother being anywhere as barbaric as what Eduardo described. And yet she supposedly murdered two birds already. The scarlet macaw tribe's Andre and the old Outcast leader. Jewel couldn't imagine her mother's normally smiling face to be full of evil and hate, and she couldn't imagine what she could be right now. And most importantly, if she saw her mother in a fight with her father, what would she do?

* * *

" _Boo_!" Caio lunged from behind a shrub, right in front of Bia's face, causing her to screech in shock, and almost lose her balance.

"You're it!" Caio poked Bia's forehead as she flailed to balance herself, and she fell fell back with a yelp. Caio shot off laughing, while Bia crawled back up and gave chase. Soon, Bia gave up trying o directly chase Caio, and managed to catch Bruno in an unexpected swerve. The only person that remained uncaught throughout the game was none other than Tiago, who was easily the fastest and most agile. Bruno noted this, and immediately tried to break Tiago's record. Tiago easily shot away from his reach continuously, and it became clear how one sided the chase was when Bruno started to tire. Tiago effortlessly zipped around the trees, consciously avoiding Bruno only by a short distance as a display of arrogance.

"Okay, he's getting annoying," Ana admitted, watching the two.

"Let's intervene," Carla suggested, and together, the two disappeared into the trees.

"No way you can catch me!" Tiago laughed more, flying backwards as Bruno struggled to catch up. As he flew with his back facing forwards, Tiago didn't see the trap Carla and Ana had created for him, and got tangled within, yelping in surprise. He thrashed around like a stuck fly within the web of vines, but his actions only served to entangle him more and more.

"Looks like I caught you," Bruno smiled, flicking Tiago's beak, and then smugly flying off, leaving Tiago stuck in the vines.

"Hey! Don't just leave me!" Tiago called out.

"Oh boy," he muttered as he tugged at the vines constraining him. He heard giggling from above him, and he turned up to look, only to see Bruno, Carla, Ana, Caio and Bia staring in amusement, and laughing at his current state.

"Not funny," he grumbled as he shifted around in the vines, only making the rest laugh more.

"At least help me out?" Tiago requested, but his plea fell on deaf ears as everyone chuckled again.

"That's what you get for being so full of yourself," Carla smiled sweetly, causing Tiago to bristle in annoyance.

"Well, Tiago can be the catcher now," Ana commented.

"Do I have to?" Tiago groaned, but everyone nodded enthusiastically. It would be interesting to have the fastest as the catcher. The moment Tiago was freed, he began counting, and everyone shot off in different directions to get as far away as possible. Tiago spread his wings, and scanned around, before deciding to chase after Caio or Bia. He zoned in, and soon caught up with the two. Caio and Bia shot apart in two different directions, and Tiago, willing to do anything to remove his catcher status, went after Bia. He soared through the openings, getting closer every second, until Bia was just in front of him. He flew faster, reaching out a talon to tag Bia, when Caio burst out of a side, and accidentally rammed into Bia, causing the two to tumble into the undergrowth. Tiago hovered nearby, and peered in slight worry. The worry soon dissipated as he saw Bia's look as she tried to untangle herself from Caio, and the surrounding plants.

"Get off me!" She huffed, squirming around as her right wing was tangled with Caio's wing, and her talon was stuck in a fern's large leaf.

"Daw no hurry," Caio laughed, not really trying to get out, which made Tiago laugh harder. Bia's face turned beetroot, and then she looked livid, and plucked at Caio's wing with her beak, effectively causing him to retract and and attempt to scramble off.

"Ow! Ow! Hey! _Okay_! I'm off!" Caio managed to roll away from Bia, rubbing his wing where she had plucked at, grumbling in annoyance. Bia got her talon out of the fern, and peered around. Tiago used the time while the two bickered, and tapped Caio, before zipping off, laughing as usual.

* * *

"If the Outcasts were to attack, we'd need more fighters. We should start training some," Roberto insisted. Blu, Jewel, Eduardo and Roberto were having a heated discussion about the brewing situation, which only seemed to be getting worse and worse.

"For so many years, all the macaws have learnt to do is how to avoid humans, not how to fight," Eduardo raised. "It would be a difficult task trying to teach them all." It was partly true. Nobody had any reason to learn to fight, and those that could were probably the seniors.

"We should still try. It's better than not doing anything at all," Jewel argued. The discussion was rudely interrupted when a macaw rushed into the hollow, almost crashing into a wall in the process of his hurried landing.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Eduardo boomed. The macaw started stammering haphazardly and it was needless to say that nobody could understand.

"Calm down! What happened?" Roberto asked firmly. The macaw took in a deep breath, and started his report.

"It's an Outcast escort. Their matriarch is here to see you, Eduardo."

Nobody had any hesitation, and got out of the hollow. As expected, there was a group of a mix of species, which Blu assumed to be the Outcasts. They were a rugged bunch, most of large build and with signs of past fights scarred all over. The least scarred among them was a Spix's macaw, a female, with a coat of dulled feathers that looked as though they were once bright and vibrant. The rest didn't look too elegant themselves, with two large bats, and seven macaws of different species. Blu noted that there was only that one Spix's macaw in the group.

"Eduardo, what a pleasure to see you," the Spix's macaw greeted in a seemingly forced respectful tone. It came across to Blu that she sounded like a cross between Jewel and Eduardo, but yet with an added cold that Blu had never heard of. Eduardo exhaled, and his face seemed to scrunch into a toxic glare.

"The pleasure is one sided. What do you want?" Eduardo spat, his tone just as poisonous as his glare. The Spix's macaw landed on a branch below her, casually observing the surrounding curious Spix's macaws.

"That isn't a way to give a greeting isn't it?" She replied idly, giving a disturbing look of contempt at her surroundings.

"Stop toying around. Get to the point," Eduardo growled. Blu couldn't help but noticed how he was refraining from using the macaw's name. Jewel was strangely silent, watching in a somewhat nervous state, and this only helped to put Blu more on edge.

"Get to the point you say?" The macaw paused briefly, as if pondering if she should. "There is no significant point. I simply heard a rumor. That Jewel miraculously returned. I simply want to see for myself."

Jewel bristled as she realized that her own mother didn't even recognize her at all. Then again, if she didn't get the hints before, she wouldn't have recognized her either. Even her once warm and comforting voice seemed to be gruff and harsh.

"You disgust me! You can't even recognize her when she's standing right in front of you!" Eduardo yelled in an outburst, ready to attack already. Roberto held him back, knowing that it would be plain suicide if Eduardo did attack. Blu's suspicions were confirmed at the statement, and he gaped at Crystal. Appearance wise, she didn't really look like Jewel, other than her supposedly light blue feathers.

"It has been more than a dozen years," Crystal seemed to be slightly agitated upon hearing Eduardo. Even she wasn't too glad that she couldn't recognize Jewel. Her eyes seemed to take around the group, and she nearly immediately pinpointed Jewel. Jewel and Crystal locked gazes momentarily, and Blu saw a warmth in Crystal's eyes that wasn't present before. But just as quickly as it came, it vanished.

"How unfortunate that she had to return to you instead," Crystal glared sharply at Eduardo. Jewel looked uncertainly between the two, not sure how to react.

"You've seen what you wanted. Get out," Eduardo hissed, his glare intensifying at every second. Crystal nodded curtly, and signaled for her escort to follow. The tension seemed to ease significantly when her group went out of sight. Eduardo said nothing, and retreated to his hollow. Jewel remained at the same spot, staring sadly in the direction where Crystal left.

"So much happened when I was separated," Jewel murmured, sighing as she continued staring. Blu simply stood by her, keeping in her presence.

* * *

"Return to the tribe. I will follow soon enough," Crystal ordered. Her escort obeyed, and took off without her. A wave of nostalgia had hit her on the way back. And soon, she noticed that this was the very spot where the old Spix's macaws lived. This was where her home burned before her eyes. Through the years, the charred trees were populated with creepers and mosses, and many new ones had grown. She explored the new area, painful memories flooding her thoughts as she saw every bit of the charred barks. As she stroked one of them, the noise of arguing caught her attention. From above, she looked at the direction where the noise was coming from. Soon enough, two young Spix's macaws, with one chasing the other, burst from the hollow.

"Get back here!" One of them yelled, while the other one genuinely looked afraid.

"Hey! Hey! Go chase someone else!" He gasped as he shot away from the other, though visibly, he wasn't using his full effort. Crystal observed the two in slight curiosity- There was no way they could see her from below through all the plants, unless they really squinted.

"Stop running! I still want to rip your eyes out!" The chaser growled. The one trying to get away started circling around the same area, and the chaser continued to follow. Crystal could easily see the two going in circles over and over.

"Stop chasing me, Bia! Just forget it!" The one trying to escape yelled as he popped around a tree for the umpteenth time.

"Stop running, Caio! I can make you forget it too!" Bia threatened, still hot on his tail. "As the granddaughter of the tribe patriarch, I order you to stop!"

At the 'order', Crystal's eye widened slightly. Eduardo's granddaughter. _Her_ granddaughter.

"You can't order me to do anything, Bia!" Caio laughed, and for the moment, he failed to see where he was going, and rammed into a tree. Shortly after, Bia rammed into him, and the two tumbled into the ground, and began bickering the moment they recovered. They soon stopped when they heard someone landing nearby. Bia and Caio stared, in slight fear, at Crystal as she stared back.

"Bia, is it?" Crystal asked, in the most warm and calming voice she could conceive. Bia nodded, and still appeared rather fearful. It came to Crystal that her 'warm' tone was too obviously fake.

"Well then. Is Jewel your parent?" She asked calmly, but decided to drop her fake tone. Her now rough voice seemed to unsettle the kids more.

"Why do you need to know?" Bia replied, somewhat timidly.

"Do I take that as a yes?" Crystal challenged in a more threatening tone.

"Why don't you ask her?" Bia seemed to translate her fear into agitation. Crystal was taken aback, but didn't show it physically.

"Because I am asking you," she replied in a cold tone, her talons slowly tapping the ground to subtly remind the child who was more superior. Caio seemed to notice, and shrunk back a little more, trying to warn Bia in whispers. Bia glared at Crystal, but Crystal saw right through her mock confidence. Bia was scared out of her wits, and was trying to shove it deep down where nobody could see it, but Crystal knew where to look for fear. One's eyes would always give it off, and Bia's eyes were literally screaming for her to run. Crystal found herself amused at the display and chuckled dryly. Bia looked slightly annoyed when she understood that Crystal was laughing at her.

"If Jewel is your mother, you are trying much too hard to be like her," Crystal growled. Bia's glare soon dissolved, and she hesitated. Caio was still behind her, itching to pull her away and escape. Crystal grunted and flew off, leaving the two confused and frightened.


	6. Rising Tension

"What just happened?" Caio asked, still trembling from the whole thing. Bia was chasing Caio for his annoying antics, but while they were rushing around, a random old Spix's macaw popped out of nowhere, and then presented a set of creepy questions and observations, that still chilled the two to the bone.

"I have no idea," Bia replied, peering around, hoping that she wouldn't return. "Come on, let's get back to the others."

"Bia, you're clutching my talon, I can't walk," Caio pointed out. Bia reddened a little, and let go. She must've grabbed onto it while she was talking to the creepy macaw. Caio smiled a little, and he couldn't help but stare.

 _She's so cute when she's blushing..._

"Hey, stare more, and you'll be as creepy as that macaw," Bia poked his forehead, snapping him out of his trance.

"Oh. Right," he coughed, and the two headed back to Tiago, Carla, Ana and Bruno.

"Really?" Bia asked, edging away slightly as Tiago poked at a colorful tarantula, which was squirming around the same spot.

"Tiago! Anytime now, that tarantula will..." Before Bia could finish, the spider seemed to blast hairs from its back, using its hind legs as two launchers. Tiago yelped in shock and screwed his eyes shut as the little irritants flew in his face. The spider fled as Tiago was reeling, disappearing into the undergrowth. Tiago rubbed his face furiously, trying to remove the little bits here and there, and when he finally finished, his nose twitched and he soon let out a loud, heavy sneeze.

"Ugh, it got in my nose," Tiago groaned, face scrunched in discomfort as his sneeze failed to expel all the irritants from his nostrils. He poked his nose with a wing, but it only served to irritate his nose more, and he sneezed again, this time at Carla's wing.

"Don't sneeze at me! I don't want your sick spider hair!" Carla immediately wiped her affected wing against Tiago.

"You're lucky you closed your eyes in time. You would go blind for a few minutes if it got in your eyes," Bia stated, crossing her wings.

"Why in the world do you read about spiders if you hate them?" Tiago asked. Bia shrugged in response.

"Just interested, I guess."

"It's evening soon. Maybe we should head back," Ana reminded, peering at the sky. It was a mix of blue and crimson, signifying the approach of evening.

"Ladies first," Caio smirked as he signaled for Bia to go first.

"Why aren't you going first then?" Bia retorted, before spreading her wings and taking off. Everyone else chuckled at Caio's face, and soon followed.

* * *

"What happened is not your fault, Eduardo!" Mimi argued as her younger brother still refused to get out of his room. "It is all Crystal's crazy mind, doing crazy things!"

Eduardo seemed to look up a little, as if instinctively reacting to an insult directed at his former mate. He flopped down again when he decided not to defend her.

"She used to mean the world to me," Eduardo murmured. "After she left, I felt empty for ages. It got better over time, and Jewel's return healed it completely. But now that I saw her again... What has she become?"

Mimi's frustration seemed to evaporate, and she sighed. It was nearly as hard for her to see Crystal in her new state. Before the incident that took Jewel away, Crystal was one of Mimi's best friends.

"If we're lucky, she would come back to her senses," Mimi hoped.

"That is false hope. A leader wouldn't abandon his tribe, and Crystal isn't one to break anything close to that," Eduardo sighed. "I've wasted enough time brooding in this hole, I have to get back to the tribe. Check on Jewel for me."

* * *

"Guys, you think Caio has a thing for Bia?" Tiago asked, out of earshot of the two he mentioned.

"You only knew now?" Carla asked, half dubious. It seemed pretty obvious since she first saw him.

"It isn't just a joke or something?" Ana asked. Carla looked at all the blank faces, and groaned.

"You all seriously didn't even consider it?" She huffed.

"I did. But yea, I thought it was a joke as well," Bruno replied.

"I'm curious. Does Bia like him at all?" Tiago asked, regarding Carla as some sort of relationship expert.

"If she does, she's hiding it very well," Carla replied. She didn't really notice anything that could suggest something from Bia to Caio.

"What are you all talking about?" Bia called from the front. The discussion ceased, and everyone assumed innocent looks. Bia frowned, but decided that it wasn't important, and continued on her way. Caio was still leading, already way ahead.

"Shall we ask?" Tiago laughed, as Bia went out of range again. Carla chuckled at the thought of her sister vehemently denying it, while Bruno and Ana didn't really react. They didn't know Bia well enough to predict her reaction.

"She might attack you. Now that'll be worth watching," Carla smiled.

"I've never seen Bia mad enough to attack people," Ana commented.

"If Tiago asks, it might happen," Carla promised.

"We've got to try it!" Tiago laughed, speeding up as his enthusiasm to ask Bia increased.

"Wait up! I've got to see this!" Bruno speed up as well, followed by Carla and Ana.

Carla and Ana were giggling a little as they watched Tiago intercept Bia. Bruno was hiding somewhere else, as the current hiding spot could fit them all.

"So, what do you think of Caio?" Tiago asked casually. Bia looked up, seemingly weirded out by the question.

"Why would you ask?" She retorted, not putting down the book she was reading at the moment.

"Just curious," Tiago tried to justify the question. Bia looked in suspicion, expecting some kind of trap. But she didn't spot water, mud, out-of-place vines, or spiders anywhere.

"He is a new brand of annoying. He does resemble you a lot ," Bia replied finally, returning to her book.

"Are you saying I'm annoying?" Tiago asked, amused at his status.

"Yes, yes I did," Bia idly replied.

"Tiago is changing the topic," Ana groaned from her cover.

"Wait, do you see what I see?" Carla interrupted, looking elsewhere. Ana turned her head to her direction.

"Wow," she murmured. Half concealed behind some leaves, Caio was eavesdropping on Bia and Tiago as well.

* * *

"Outcast, what do you want?" A large bat spat, glaring at Crystal with two red, burning eyes.

"I only want to propose a plan to you, where we both gain," Crystal replied, her voice incredibly calm, whilst the danger around her loomed. Countless bats glowered from the darkness, waiting to pounce on their chief's command. Crystal peered around in disinterest, and continued. "I know that the Pit of Doom is an insult to your tribe. You are all fierce warriors."

"The Pit of Doom is not as honorable, but it is a feasible way to settle disputes. Why would I risk the lives of my warriors, when there is a safer way of doing it?" The chief asked, though he didn't sound entirely honest about his opinion. Crystal took it as a green light, and proposed her plan. The chief listened intently, but didn't respond.

"The early phases of the plan is being executed. You have a week or so to make up your mind," Crystal blatantly stated. The chief didn't stop her for her lack of respect, but glared as she took her leave.

* * *

Eduardo had been requested for over at the Scarlet tribe, and Roberto tagged along with him as he departed. The silence seemed eerie, almost discomforting. Eduardo frowned as they passed the Brazil nut groves of the scarlet territory. Not one bird in sight. Only disturbingly empty feeding grounds. Something just seemed wrong.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Roberto murmured, peering around, still trying to spot a sign of a scarlet macaw. Eduardo opened his beak to answer, but distant arguing caused him to pinch his beak shut and listen intently.

"We should get a move on," he whispered, and the duo doubled their pace. The arguing got louder and louder, and finally, they saw the situation. Felipe was yelling at a group of birds of mix species, and two bats. Eduardo took a sharp breath when he saw the Spix's macaw among the group. Crystal was staring in contempt as Felipe as he raged on at her.

"You have no right to waltz in here, and just take all the food you want, and attack my tribe's young!" Felipe spread out his wings in aggression, seemingly tripling his size. Crystal looked unimpressed, and grunted in reply, only serving to infuriate Felipe even more. The whole scarlet tribe was probably there, glaring at the outcast group, but when Eduardo closely observed the scarlet macaws, a dozen or two battered and bruised macaws were resting in a hollow, with a few others tending to them. Roberto looked in worry as he noticed one or two kids among the injured, and he bristled in anger at the outcasts. The two still remained out of sight, spying from the cover of the trees.

"Well Felipe, your screaming is completely interesting me, but quite frankly, I don't care about your tribe's welfare. The tribes strip the areas of food, so we take some from you," Crystal replied calmly. Felipe's already livid face turned into a nasty shade as his blood boiled above the maximum point.

"Get out of my land, before I personally kick you out myself," he ordered, in a quiet and deadly tone. Crystal turned to leave, and her escort followed suit. As she prepared, she looked back, straight at Felipe's eye.

"It won't be your land for long," she teased, before taking flight. The scarlet macaws glared at the leaving group, some already shaking in pure anger. Eduardo wondered why they hadn't charged at the Outcasts yet. They already looked fit to burst as little bombs.

"Felipe, what happened?" He asked, revealing himself from the trees. Felipe turned to see Eduardo, and he seemed to get a minor shock. The once bright and proud Scarlet chief seemed to have a tired and sickly look, making him seem many years older than he was. The macaws around them dispersed, giving the three some privacy.

"The situation is getting out of hand," Felipe admitted. "A patrol caught the Outcasts stealing large amounts of food from the Brazil nut groves, but when the patrol confronted those thieves, they attacked. Those thugs even hit _children_ they passed! When I led a second escort, with double the numbers, they were beaten up badly as well."

Eduardo looked at the hollow he had noticed earlier on. He couldn't see the few dozens of injured patients from his current angle, but he could easily visualize them, all bruised and battered. He turned to look at Felipe, and noticed a strange patch of red that stained his feathers, that wasn't visible from far. As Felipe turned to look at the injured, the Spix's macaws couldn't help but notice that he was limping heavily.

"Felipe, you're bleeding," Roberto murmured, peering at the unnaturally red patch of color on the scarlet macaw's feathers.

"I'm fine," Felipe brushed off the issue, without even stopping to look at the wound's condition.

"No you're not fine. Get into the hollow, let your tribe healers patch you up," Eduardo helped to support Felipe, as he limped half heartedly toward the hollow from branch to branch.

"Crystal is becoming more and more of a problem. We need to do something about it," Eduardo sighed to Roberto after Felipe finally lied down inside a hollow to rest.

"What can we do? That little group there bested over thirty scarlet macaws!" Roberto reminded.

"We need to make sure that the entire tribe knows how to fight well. I will announce it today, and we should start by tomorrow."

* * *

Crystal watched in silence, observing her tribe idling around the trees. The land the Outcasts were allocated had almost no inhabitable hollows, and most had to live in spaces under the trees, where the roots provided minimal protection from weather. The Pit of Doom was a waste of space. The sturdy ledges present could easily work as homes, and there were easily accessible food sources and water sources within a minute's flight. Crystal considered the pit to be a rich area, that was hopelessly wasted on a weak and disgusting way to settle disputes. The scarlets she attacked with her escort were weak, unaccustomed to any fighting, and she could easily cripple any of them. Even Felipe was not too much of a challenge. If she had brought her tribe along, the scarlets would have been done for. _Pathetic weaklings_. That's what the tribes were made of now. It was like a disease. And she was going to purge the jungle of the disease, bit by bit. She watched as a scarlet chick and a small bat wrestled on the ground, rolling around as they fought. The bat was hurled upwards, and kicked, causing him to slam into a root, but he got up, laughing. Crystal's thoughts seemed to clear, as the young ones reminded her of her own offspring. She could still remember that fateful day when it all came crashing down. The last time she saw Jewel before she disappeared was when she charged into a bat, narrowly saving him from a burning branch that fell from the trees. Just like that, Jewel had vanished into the smoke and fire, never to be seen again.

 _What if I meet her in battle?_

The painful thought echoed all over Crystal's skull, causing her to shut her eyes tightly, as if to make the thought go away. Jewel was the only one she couldn't hurt without flinching. She was the only one that still made her feel something, something among all the layers of grief and anger. Seeing Jewel after all the years... somehow made her feel more joyful.

 _She isn't your daughter anymore. She is Eduardo's daughter_. Her mind reminded her. She didn't think of Eduardo the same way any longer. He used to be the star of her life. Now he was just another competitor, and she planned to swipe him aside like the unworthy chief he was. And it wouldn't be long before she had the chance to.


	7. Accelerated Pressure

"Hey there, nice to hear from you again!" A voice greeted from the old phone. Tiago, Carla and Bia recognized Nico's suave voice, and cheerfully returned the greeting.

"Eh there! 'Ow's it goin'?" Another voice asked.

"Hey Uncle Pedro!" Carla returned the greeting enthusiastically. The city birds called using a rusting hand phone that looked as though it was about to disintegrate. Blu's phone was an old model, but was still mostly intact. Due to its age, it could only provide a limited range of services, like accepting and making calls. Even the messaging system failed to work properly anymore.

"How's the Amazon?" Nico asked. Tiago, Carla and Bia shared a silent pact to not talk about the Outcast conflict. It would only worry their friends, as they were powerless to do much to stop it.

"It's fine, we've made a few friends, it's great here," Bia replied.

"Only friends?" Pedro asked. "Nobody _extra_ special?"

"Yeah, Bia has one, it's _ow_!" Tiago started, but shut up when Bia stomped on his talon.

"Oh Bia, it's nothing to be ashamed of," Nico said, sounding intent to find out who Tiago was referring to.

"He isn't my boyfriend, he's just a rather annoying friend. Something like Tiago, but with this added goggly eyes, and weird compliments," Bia explained. The macaws heard some sort of whistling in the background the moment Bia said the last part.

"Oh, you'll find a lover pretty soon," Nico promised. Bia stared at the phone with an annoyed face while Carla and Tiago made loud kissing noises.

"How 'bout you Tiago?" Pedro asked. Tiago seemed to hesitate briefly, and replied that he didn't have his eyes on anyone.

"Oh really?" Carla noticed, looking at Tiago in amusement.

"Really," Tiago confirmed.

"Carla, any _zings_?" Nico asked, but Carla denied having any, and changed the subject.

"How's Rafael?"

"Oh that ol' bird?" Pedro said. "Oh he and Eva have three more eggs on the way!" Tiago, Carla an Bia chuckled, thinking about the new trio of kids the toucans would be probably be having.

"Kids! Time to go!" Blu called from the entrance.

"Coming!" Tiago delayed, and turned to the phone. "Sorry Uncle Nico and Uncle Pedro, we need to go for now."

* * *

"Those under the age of five, please report to Roberto. The rest, report to Eduardo," Blu instructed the tribe mates present, directing the two groups apart. He whispered a hasty goodbye to his children and went back to his temporary task. Tiago, Bia and Carla headed towards the direction Blu was gesturing at for "those under five", sure enough, under the cover of two large trees with wide canopy-leveled leaves, Roberto was directing some kids around the area, but despite his efforts, many were still squirming around, and any order in the crowd dissipated as quickly as any formed.

"Hey! Get back here!" Roberto yelled at two kids at the far end who were trying to escape from the group. Mimi joined in Roberto's effort, and after some time, the rowdiness became significantly less intense.

"Alright, do you know why you're here?" Roberto asked the children. The blank looks on more than half of the present audience convinced Roberto that they weren't.

"Okay, you're being trained in very basic combat, and some evasive maneuvers," Roberto said, and excited murmuring reverberated around the kids, especially the boys.

"Don't get that excited, it's very, _very_ basic," Roberto added, transforming most of the excitement into boredom.

"You would need a partner for most of the exercises." The moment Mimi finished, the order erupted into more chaos as the kids scrambled around, trying to find preferred partners. Tiago and Carla soon bumped into Ana and Bruno, and Ana paired with Carla, while Tiago paired with Bruno. Bia searched around, but frankly didn't want to pair up with a total stranger.

"Hey Bia," a voice greeted from behind her. Bia turned around, and groaned as she saw Caio. She looked at the crowds again, but before she could really decide between her two options, everyone seemed to pair up at once. Bia grumbled as she paired herself with Caio, who was grinning smugly at his little victory.

"If this involves hitting you, I will hit twice as hard," Bia murmured.

"And I will hit half as hard," Caio replied, earning him a smack from Bia. Caio rubbed his cheek using a wing with a sheepish look, the last traces of his attitude vanishing.

* * *

"Madame, the Spix's macaws are being trained in combat," a bat reported. Crystal grunted in reply, not really believing that they were going to be able to do much anyway.

"They shouldn't be a worry. It's too late for them to start," Crystal replied. "But this might mean that we have lesser time than we anticipated."

"What do you reckon we do, Madame?" The bat asked.

"Simple. We act now. Gather the tribe."

* * *

"The adults are making fine progress," Jewel reported to Eduardo. The few who could hold their ground in combat had plucked out groups of five to seven macaws each, with Eduardo and Jewel taking ten each. So far, most of the groups were coping well, and most already knew basic combat moves. Mimi landed nearby, and Eduardo instantly asked how the younger ones were faring.

"They are getting along slowly, though younger ones aren't really taking it seriously though," Mimi replied.

"They should at least learn the evasive actions well," Eduardo stated, annoyed that the training wasn't working to its full extent.

"They should," Mimi agreed. "I'll go help Roberto again. They might've descended into chaos the moment I left." With that, Mimi took off, returning to Roberto and the large group of kids. Contrary to Mimi's expectation, the children were following Roberto's instructions rather well, although most were giggling as they tried the moves.

"Okay, if there is only one or a few enemies that come to attack a large group of you, forget all the running and hiding. Simply swarm them," Roberto instructed. "Most important may be clinging onto a larger opponent." Mimi frowned at the thought of children fighting. Sure the numbers would help, probably by a significant amount, but the very thought of them getting hurt was unthinkable. Roberto's talking brought her back to the scene.

"Now let's try it out! Take turns, one partner will try and cling onto the other, while that partner will shake or run around as vigorously as possible." Roberto instructed. Lively chatter erupted, and many kids leaped onto their partners without even asking. Shouts of protest and laughing echoed everywhere, while Mimi and Roberto scanned the area for anything too violent.

"After you?" Caio asked Bia, giving a mock courteous bow. Bia huffed and hopped onto his back, using his bent head as a launch pad.

"Ow! Hey!" Caio whined, and whirled around. Bia gasped at the sudden movement, and latched onto him with her wings, covering his face in the process.

"I can't see!" Caio spun and trashed around more, and Bia only gripped tighter as she was spun around and around, seeing stars as her world got more and more unbalanced. She tried to talk, but found that she couldn't really say much in her dizziness, and could only cling on for as long as she could and hope that Caio would stop panicking.

"Okay, switch!" Someone called out, and Caio grounded into a halt, almost flinging Bia off accidentally. Bia slipped off and stumbled around in pure confusion, bumping into random objects as she struggled to balance herself.

"Bia are you okay?" She distantly recognized Carla's voice as she bumped into something new.

"Just peachy," she replied, facing the wrong side.

"Okay, if your partner is too large, it's time to find a new partner," Roberto announced. Bia was cured of the worst of the dizzy spell, and peered around looking for another partner. Caio was already taller than her, and she wasn't too keen to hold him on top of her either. _Unless, I get to try and throw him off._ Bia smirked as she thought of wiping his smug face off.

"Okay, if you're ready, start!" Mimi called out, restarting the pandemonium. Caio carefully got onto Bia's back, and almost immediately, Bia started swerving around trying to throw him off. He screeched in shock. And grabbed onto her tail. Every time Bia moved, Caio's tail would in turn whack her face.

"Get your tail out of my face!" She ordered, but Caio didn't really bother, or couldn't really hear her. She grunted in annoyance, and bent her head downward, and spun in circles as quickly as she could, with her eyes shut tightly. She soon felt the weight on her back lift off as Caio slipped and was flung off. Bia smiled innocently at a disoriented Caio, who was stumbling around and blinking in confusion.

"You...didn't have to shake...so hard," he wheezed as he struggled to stay on his talons.

"Oh yes I did," Bia replied smugly.

"Good job everyone, that will be it for now," Roberto dismissed the crowd. "Your parents will be here soon, so for those that don't know how to get back, you can stay put."

"Roberto!" Someone was frantically flying toward him. Roberto peered at the bird in surprise as he approached.

"Eduardo is calling for you! There's a situation!" He reported.

"What situation?" Roberto pressed for details. The messenger looked at the crowds of curious children, and leaned closer to Roberto and whispered something in his ear. Roberto's face visibly drained of color, and he swiftly launched himself toward Eduardo's hollow. The words of the messenger rung through his mind as he did so, pumping his wings to move faster.

 _The entire Outcast tribe has been spotted traveling nearby._

* * *

The surrounding animals spotted the incoming crowd, and the incessant sound of chattering died down the moment the crowd was recognized as the Outcasts. The sense of dread soon exploded into all out fear as everyone started evacuating the area, rushing back to their tribes, or back into the forest. A tapir and a porcupine observed the scene from an elevated position in the rocks, holding expressions of shock and fear. The Outcasts were notorious for their hate of the Pit of Doom games. The Outcasts landed, and soon their leader directed them toward certain areas rather idly, taking the available time to its full extent.

"Somebody throw those two irritants out of my sight," the leader ordered, pointing at the tapir and the porcupine. Despite their protests, her orders were swiftly executed, and soon they were dropped back into the deep jungles, away from the pit.

"Setup the lookouts. I believe we will have some company soon."

"Madame, Eduardo and Felipe are arriving to meet you," a bat informed. Crystal turned around, not expecting the tribes to react so quickly, but to her relief, she didn't see them bringing their whole tribes along, just a ragtag team of escorts. She frowned as she noticed Jewel among the approaching crowd, and her talons instinctively dug into the pebbles below her.

"What are you doing?!" Eduardo boomed the moment he got in Crystal's earshot. Crystal didn't react to the chief's question, and continued staring.

"This has gone too far! Get your tribe out of the pit!" Felipe demanded.

"Or what?" Crystal taunted in reply.

"Or we will have war," Felipe warned.

"You want to start a war with my tribe? Maybe I should remind you, Felipe. A little group of my tribe crippled over thirty members of yours without sustaining any injuries in return. If you really want to send your tribe on a suicide mission, you are free to do so," Crystal spoke casually, inciting Felipe's anger to glow red hot. He clenched his beak shut, knowing in his heart that she was right, and attacking would only make things worse for his tribe.

"We don't need war to settle this. Why do you even want this rocky pit for?" Eduardo asked in aggression, clearly angered by the occupation.

"It will be a fine area for my tribe to live in. Good shelter, plenty of food and water sources nearby..."

"Food sources? You mean _our_ food sources! This pit is surrounded by Scarlet and Spix's macaw land!" Felipe stated, his voice slightly trembling. He hated feeling so helpless, up to the point where he couldn't even simply lunge at Crystal just because he knew that he would lose.

"I don't abide by your crummy rules. If you can't enforce them, I don't need to follow them," Crystal replied, her statement radiating enough defiance to turn Eduardo's glare into a squint.

"You can't just ignore rules." A new voice stated. Everyone turned toward the new voice. It was Jewel. Crystal's expressions softened ever so slightly, but nobody really noticed.

"These rules make up your tribe, and abiding by them upholds your tribe's honor," Jewel continued.

"Eduardo's gotten to you hadn't he?" Crystal asked rhetorically. "Honor is wrongly defined in your case. Going to ridiculous extents to follow stupid rules is foolishness."

Jewel's temper seemed to sprout more and more at Crystal's words, and her once calm expression was twisting into a glare.

"This is your last chance. Get out of the pit," Eduardo cut in before Jewel could say anything rash.

"No," Crystal replied simply. She raised a wing, and soon, many surrounding Outcasts stood closer to the escorted leaders, their eyes fixed onto them.

"This is my land now. You get out," Crystal ordered. Eduardo and Felipe bristled angrily at the order, reluctant to abide by it.

"I heard that the Outcast leader can be changed if someone kills the current leader," Jewel stated, waiting for Crystal to respond. She didn't, but she stared at Jewel, already guessing what she would be saying next. Eduardo guessed as well, and tried to signal her to not try it. A deadly silence persisted after Jewel's statement, and everyone stared on for Crystal's reaction. Her face seemed fully expressionless, and she stared back at Jewel, as if waiting for her to say something.

"So?" Crystal finally asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. The tension rose, and soon the surrounding animals began some light murmuring, pressuring the already tense situation. Neither of the two macaws continued the conversation for some time, only staring into each other's eyes. Eduardo seemed uneasy at the situation, and looked worriedly at Jewel, while Felipe looked on in interest.

"That's what I thought," Crystal said, abandoning the conversation, and turning to leave. Jewel looked momentarily stunned at her mother's reaction, but forced herself to not try anything at her. A soft scrunching noise was heard as Jewel's talons dug deeply into the pebbles below. Crystal paused slightly at the noise, but continued to move away.

"Let's go," Eduardo whispered solemnly to Jewel as the Outcasts started to regain their order.

* * *

As the escorts returned to their respective tribes, the sky darkened, as if warning of the impending doom awaiting the forest. Jewel glanced back at the former Pit of Doom, her expressionless countenance not reflecting the turmoil within.


	8. Chilling Breeze

_Why is it so cold?_

Carla plugged out her chilly earphones and huddled in a corner, fluffing up her feathers to keep herself warm. It certainly was a rather cold night, much colder than usual. And yet, there was no rain or anything similar. She grumbled as she got up and went to the entrance, looking out of the hollow. Nothing seemed amiss, nothing seemed out of place. The hollows were quiet, and everyone was in a deep sleep. It was like as if the lively area in the day had flipped over and changed sides completely. For Carla, it looked creepy, and she didn't enjoy the view one bit. She shivered one last time and retreated to her room. She turned on her iPod, and scrolled through her list of songs. The little light from her device illuminated her room with a soft light, and she winced a little as the bright light stung her eyes. She swiftly tapped a few times, and reduced the volume to a meager amount, and curled into a ball to try and get some rest.

* * *

"The World seems to be undergoing freak weather! Strange outpourings of snow or heat waves are hitting many areas, including snow in India, a drought in Malaysia and a much colder average temperature in Brazil and Peru..."

Tulio looked up from his newspaper and stared at the news reporter on the television set when he mentioned Brazil. He raised an eyebrow, and walked up to the door of his home. The moment he opened it, a gust of cold air rushed in, sending shivers down his spine. Tulio reeled in slight shock, and shut the door immediately. He murmured to himself, staring out the window. He plucked off his wall thermometer, and opened a window, flinching as the cold air cut into his skin. He quickly placed the thermometer on the window edge, and closed the window. He looked outside in worry, silently rushing the thermometer as the red alcohol within creeped to the rightful reading. If the temperature dropped more than five degrees, the Amazon was in trouble. But judging from the cold air outside, he knew that there was a high possibility that it was much worse than just five degrees.

* * *

Blu stretched as he yawned, and slowly crawled his way out of his room, and squinted at the brightness outside. He grunted as he felt something in his gut, like something was wrong, or out of place. For a moment, he tried to think about the problem, and soon he understood. He wasn't sweating, or feeling hot in any way. On the contrary, he could feel little goosebumps under his feathers.

"What the?" He murmured under his breath, fully noticing the freak temperature. He looked out of the hollow, only to see that the tribe was rather empty, with only a few macaws rushing in and out of select hollows.

"What's going on?" He asked Aa Roberto flew by.

"I don't know, it's freezing today," Roberto replied, slightly shivering from the cold. "Here, have some food, try not to leave the hollow today. Eduardo's orders." With that, Roberto dropped a few Brazil nuts into the hollow, and left to deliver more. Blu counted the nuts ensuring that there was enough for his family, and froze as he remembered. He didn't check on Jewel or the kids yet. Letting out a silent yelp, he rushed to his room to look for Jewel. She wasn't there, and normally, she would be on duty somewhere, but in the cold, Blu wasn't too happy about letting her go out. Forcing himself to forget about Jewel for the moment, he went to check on Tiago, Carla and Bia, only to find them all huddled in Tiago's room, with the sleeping peacefully. Tiago seemed to have an immunity to the cold, like Blu had, while Carla and Bia were more sensitive to temperature. Blu looked on in slight worry, and remembered something that he brought in his fanny pack. Since coming to the Amazon, Blu had been using it less and less, as it proved to be more of a hindrance in his lifestyle. Now, it seemed to be confined in a corner of the hollow, collecting dust and grime. He picked up the little pouch, and blew hard on it, causing a small cloud of dust to escape. He unzipped the bag, and rummaged inside briefly before retrieving a neatly folded piece of cloth. When the family was going from Rio to the Amazon for the first time, Blu had brought all sorts of things, including many disposable items, foldable utility items, cloth to make sleeping in random areas less unforgiving...

With a flick, he unfolded the cloth to its full size, which was nearly three times his width, and just as high as he was. Slowly and carefully, he placed the cloth over the children, and left quietly.

* * *

"This is not good. It is freezing cold, and the river is going to rise soon, and half of the food sources are going to be underwater," Eduardo was pacing around his hollow, occasionally fluffing up his feathers to keep maintain warmth. Roberto, Blu and Jewel were present, and each of them were exchanging troubled looks. It was the first time it was this cold in the Amazon, and frankly, it was going to be a large problem, especially if it gets colder.

"The jungle's ecosystem would be tipped out of balance," Blu murmured, attracting glances of question. "Many species will die, and any predators would be desperate to find food."

"Well that's going to be a wonderful addition," Eduardo replied sarcastically, clearly stressed by the new problem. Out of all of them, Blu was the most suited to cold environments, though the last few years, he had been in warmer areas, and his resistance to the cold had dipped a little. Due to that, the weather wasn't all comfortable for him either. It felt like the aviary back in Rio, when Tulio's friends visited. They would blast the air conditioner to a ridiculously cold temperature, and Blu avoided the aviary every time they were there.

"Guys, wait," Roberto butted in, squinting outside the hollow. "Do you see that?"

"See what?" Eduardo asked, tensing up at Roberto's urgent tone.

"Humans!" He yelled, pointing outside the hollow. Indeed, there were a few humans dressed in thick clothing carrying large sacks of items, climbing around the large trees. Eduardo's face seemed to drain of color, and he stared in worry as one of the intruders placed an alien object into one of the empty hollows.

"Wait," Blu said, staring at the humans. "Those are the humans from the sanctuary." He stated confidently, recognizing the symbol on their clothes.

"What are they doing?" Roberto murmured, trying to get a right angle to see what the human did to the empty hollow. As he left to go to another tree, the birds spotted a kind of lamp in the tree, which radiated a warm, crimson glow.

"Those are heaters," Blu guessed. "They can keep an area around them warm."

"Alright, let's go around and tell the others to not attack them. We don't want to hinder them if they are trying to help," Eduardo ordered.

* * *

"Move over, you're using too much of the blanket," Carla whined, squeezing under the blanket.

"You're in a tiny corner, why not go behind me? There's plenty of space," Bia stated, still busy reading a dense book. Carla wormed behind her, and dragged her iPod along.

"Hey guys, you're totally gonna like this," Tiago laughed, entering the room. Bia and Carla looked up, but didn't notice anything suspicious. Without any warning, Tiago dived under the blanket. Bia and Carla screeched as his icy cold body entered, and the three squirmed around underneath the blanket, with Bia and Carla complaining and Tiago laughing. A metallic clink caused the three to cease the mess, and peer outside the hollow. A curious object now stood in the middle of the hollow, and the temperature soon increased to a more comfortable amount.

"A heater," Bia commented, circling the device.

"The other hollows have it too," Carla pointed out. Nearly every hollow in the tribe had an orange glow spilling out the entrance.

"That's the last of them," a voice echoed throughout the tribe.

"Okay head to the next flock. It's around the rocks," another replied.

"That was strange and random," Tiago stated, staring at the leaving humans.

"It's probably the sanctuary humans coming to help," Bia explained.

"The heaters can help to simulate normal tempera... AHH!" Bia yelped as Tiago held her talon with his icy cold one.

* * *

"The bat tribe would go into hibernation, or simply encamp themselves within their cave because of this weather. If it continues, the plan needs to be changed," Crystal discussed. She and two others were discussing under a large ledge, which was partially protected from the cold weather by a few rock formations. It was where the tapir an the porcupine normally stood to provide commentary for the Pit of Doom matches. Upon the Outcast's occupation, the available spaces were turned into homes, and that particular space was a meeting area. Before the meeting, Crystal found that the area had the strange presence of many human devices. They glowed orange, but warmed the surrounding area. There was one in the middle of the meeting room, warming the space to a more acceptable temperature.

"We had an old plan before we involved the bat tribe. We could revert to it," one of the elders said. Elders in the Outcast tribe were much younger in comparison to the elders from other tribes. They were mostly a little older than Eduardo's age, while other tribe elders can be double the amount. The reason behind the difference was no other than because the Outcasts have a higher death rate.

"It is much more risky compared to the new one," Crystal said, not impressed by the elder's suggestion. "There was a reason why it is an _old_ plan. There will be too many casualties if we used it."

"But in this temperature, even we would have trouble doing much," another elder reminded.

"Humans dumped these objects everywhere, and they keep an area warm," Crystal analyzed, staring at the heater in the vicinity. "We could use this temperature to our advantage. But we'd need someone on the inside. Fetch all the scarlets we have in our tribe. It's time to take a pick."

* * *

"Tiago, dump that on me, and I will be ninety-nine percent certain that you'll never see daylight again," Bia warned idly, flipping another page of her book. Tiago grumbled and brought Blu's drinking mug back to his fanny pack. Before he placed the mug back into the fanny pack, he dumped the cold water it contained out of the hollow, and watched in slight disappointment as the water didn't touch a living soul.

"Shall we go out?" Tiago asked Bia and Carla. The birds were sticking around the heater in their home, and were thus in close vicinity of each other.

"If you feel like freezing into a block of ice, go ahead," Carla replied, still grooming her feathers.

"Oh come on, you call this cold?" Tiago teased, knowing fully how his sisters disliked low temperatures.

"You'll be cold if I pluck all your feathers off," Bia added, clearly showing no intention of leaving.

"This is so boring, at least it would be more interesting outside," Tiago said. "What are you even reading?"

"It starts with an N and ends with an S," Bia replied, flipping a page as she did so. "None of your Business."

"Ha ha," Tiago grunted in reply. "I'll be gone for a while. Enjoy your boring activities." With that, he took off, and left his siblings in the hollow. As soon as he stepped off the hollow entrance, a chilly breeze swept by, blossoming multiple goosebumps in his skin. He hesitated briefly, and decided that it would be worth it.

* * *

"The groves! They have been stripped of food!" Roberto reported. In the fanny pack he held in one talon, one or two nuts rolled out. The gathering party consisted of five macaws who were relatively unaffected by the cold. Roberto was shivering non-stop a few hours ago, but after flying through the grove multiple times, and being exposed to the cold temperature, he soon got used to it, and his shivering ceased altogether. However, his face had an unsettling pale, and the shock of finding no food in the grove at all made it seem even worse.

"This doesn't make any sense. The grove has never run out of food before," Jewel mused aloud. She looked up from the ground briefly, and caught sight of Roberto's state, and was stunned briefly.

"Beto, are you okay?" She asked, getting more and more worried.

"I..I'm fine," he shook off her worry. "We have much more to worry about than my health."

" _We_ have much more to worry about. Not you. Get some rest, stay near a heater," Eduardo ordered. Roberto opened his beak to protest, but pinched it shut, and nodded.

"What happened to him?" Eduardo asked no one in particular as Roberto left for his hollow.

"He may have exhausted himself, or maybe he simply can't take the cold," Blu guessed, staring at Roberto's figure as he landed in a hollow some distance away.

"Reassess the gathering team. I better not see another one sick like Roberto. For now, don't gather food until our stockpile goes below half full," Eduardo ordered before flying out to check on the tribe. Blu hesitated. He had no idea how to assess the group, and ended up briefly examining the group, judging by how pale each of them looked. Needless to say, he couldn't single anyone out.

"Okay, if anyone feels ill, _don't_ continue. Head straight back for the tribe. No mock braveries, we don't want any casualties while looking for food," Jewel told the gathering team. Each nodded, and left for their hollows as Blu dismissed them.

"It will get worse at night, that's when it's he coldest," Blu told Jewel worriedly, staring out the entrance.

"We're getting along fine for now, it should be alright," Jewel reassured, but didn't sound too confident herself. "Worst case, we could all just head to the sanctuary headquarters." Blu dryly chuckled at the thought of the sanctuary staff opening the door just to see a whole flock of birds staring back.

"Oh come on, it isn't that bad of an idea," Jewel huffed, taking the chuckled as a disapproval of what she said.

"It's a fine plan. Just thinking of how the sanctuary humans will react," Blu calmed his mate down.

"We should check on the kids," Jewel recalled, and with that, the duo left for their hollow.

* * *

"This stockpile should last us long enough," Crystal stated as the last of her tribe members returned, with leaves full of Brazil nuts. The ferns growing at the bottom of the pit had huge leaves, ideal for use for transporting items. A small cave opening under one of the ledges was found some time back, and someone had the idea of storing food in it. Soon after the cold struck, Crystal ordered a large portion of her tribe to gather as many Brazil nuts as they could find in the groves. The small tunnel was nearly full of food, and yet from a distance away, seemed perfectly hidden.

 _Without the food, the tribes will struggle to survive. Within enough time, we should be ready to strike._

Crystal looked at some of the tribe grabbing a few nuts for themselves. Though many grabbed ridiculous amounts, there was more than enough for everyone, at least twenty nuts to one animal.

 _My tribe is fed, and the other tribes will be crippled. All from one action._

 _Just like killing two birds with one stone._


	9. Heat in the Cold

A wave of a colder temperature shocked the tribe awake in the middle of the night. Loud, persistent noise ensured that only the deepest of sleepers would remain in their slumber. It was raining. Soon, everyone drifted back into shallow, uneasy rest, knowing full well that the situation was going to get worse in the rain. Slight thunder in the background kept the sleep on edge, and wary at all times.

"Blu! Blu!" Jewel, in a last ditch effort to get her mate up, slapped him right in his face. In a moment, Blu shot out from his sleep, rubbing his cheek with a wing.

"What was that for?" He asked. Jewel never slapped him awake unless it was heavily important.

"What is going on? Look outside!" Jewel replied frantically. Blu frowned, and stumbled up, and moved around the heater in the hollow. His beak seemed to drop at the sight of the trees. A thin layer of white powder covered everything, and the temperature was a familiar sting of cold.

"We have to see Eduardo," Blu prompted, immediately rushing to his father-in-law's hollow.

"Wait! What's going on?" Jewel called after him, following him through the cold. Leaving the vicinity of the heater was like getting hit by an icy cold rock, and Jewel's flying was slightly disoriented.

"Jewel, it's snowing!" Blu shouted back. It was the end of the world. _Snowing_ in the _Amazon_. Blu had never dreamt of it. His memories of snow were mixed in nature. He did have some time playing around in it, but he could never stay in snow for more than five minutes at a time, for it was so cold that he could feel something going numb anytime he was in it. Moreover, he would've frozen to death in a wooden crate, had Linda not found him and rescued him. The temperature wasn't as extreme as the temperature in Minnesota, and Blu didn't feel something go numb every time he touched something, but surely everyone else would be literally freezing? His thoughts ended as he saw Eduardo staring out of his hollow in disbelief. If the situation wasn't so serious, Eduardo's face would have been funny.

"Blu! What is going on?" Eduardo asked the moment Blu and Jewel were in earshot.

"It is snowing," Blu replied simply, not sure what to say. Blu and Jewel both landed in Eduardo's hollow, and their puffed feathers slowly returned to normal in a heater's presence.

"I've only ever heard rumors about snow. It has never touched the Amazon," Eduardo said, still staring at the thin layer of snow over everything.

"Right now, we should distribute the food around, so nobody tries to do it themselves," Blu suggested. "It would be hazardous for them to try."

"Alright. Gather the gathering team, and get them to do that," Eduardo agreed.

"Wait, sir?" Blu asked, before Eduardo could go back to his business.

"What?"

"Where do they live?"

* * *

"Bia! Look!" Tiago called his sister, urging her to get up and see. Bia grumbled in annoyance and rolled away from him, ignoring his wake up call. Tiago frowned, and dumped the snow in his wings right onto her. With a piercing shriek, she shot out, swiping the cold powder out of her feathers, rushing for the heater. Bia halted in front of the device, flapping madly near it, trying to fan warm air at herself.

"Tiago! What the heck!" She yelled, but gaped as she noticed the outside scenery.

"I told you to get up, but you didn't listen to me did you?" Tiago said smugly, crossing his wings as he saw Bia's look of shock.

"It's...snowing?" Bia stammered, stepping a little out of place. Cold wind bit into her as the heater's range was passed, and she stumbled backward, almost slamming into Tiago.

"Aw are you a little cold?" Tiago snickered. Truthfully, it was the coldest Tiago had ever felt, and it wasn't okay with him one bit. He could feel goosebumps forming in multitudes as he stepped out, and he couldn't stop shivering while he was in the open. The weather was funny to him yesterday, as it was still bearable and he could happily tease his sisters about it, but now it was really becoming much too cold.

"Of course I'm cold! This is tens of degrees colder than Spix's macaw habitat temperatures!" Bia raged at Tiago's seeming inability to see the situation seriously. To her it was the end of the world, and to him it was just another day.

"Where's Carla?" Bia asked. Her sister would normally be up earlier than her and Tiago.

"She woke up just now, but claimed it was too cold to do anything, so now she's sleeping again," Tiago explained. "Oh yea, there's a bunch of insects all over the hollow. Be careful, one might enter your nose."

Bia cringed at the one time where Tiago's prank gone wrong, and a spider entered her nose. She ended up sneezing it out, but was horrified of the experience ever since.

"If that ever happens again, I'll make you eat whatever went in," Bia vowed, though honestly she probably wouldn't do it.

"Cockroach," Tiago pointed to the floor calmly. Bia looked at his direction and screeched as she stumbled backwards yet again, away from the disgusting intruder taking shelter in the hollow.

* * *

Caio sighed as Crash and Dash tumbled and bickered all over him. He couldn't sleep for a brief moment without one of the two ramming into him, intentionally and unintentionally. His family had to move in with someone else's, as his family's hollow didn't have a heater. Caio's parents, and Aline (The Twins' mother) were part of the gathering team, and were handing out food to the families. The result? Nobody that could control the twins. Daniel had given up ages ago and decided to go back to his snoring.

"Hey Caio, wanna play a game?" Dash prodded his recipient eagerly.

"What game?" Caio asked, hoping that joining the twins' games would bring an end to the "unintentional" hits.

"Yes or no?" Crash joined in, and Caio got the impression that they were hiding the rules on purpose.

"Not without knowing the rules, I'm not," Caio replied defiantly, refusing to join in.

"Really? You think you have a choice?" Dash laughed, and Crash plucked some vines from the walls.

"Hey, wait! Wait! At least give me a five minute head start!" Caio blurted, backing away from the two.

"Five minutes? You can't go anywhere anyway," Dash reasoned.

"Come on, you don't have to," Caio whined as his back touched the hollow wall. He was definitely trapped.

"Please?" Caio tried as a last ditch effort.

"We just hope that you like snow," Crash smiled innocently.

* * *

"Why are there so many bugs all over the place?" Carla grumbled as she threw a spider out of the hollow, with Bia flinching a little.

"That is the third bug I've thrown out of my room!" Carla yelled at out of the hollow, as if warning any other creepy crawly that dared to enter.

"Technically, spiders are arachnids, not bugs," Bia corrected. "The most distinguishable feature between arachnids and bugs, is the number of legs."

"Really? Then are centipedes bugs?" Carla asked.

"No, bugs have six legs, centipedes have many more," Bia frowned at her sister's out of the blue question.

"Well, bug or not, I'm sure you won't like it crawling on you. I suggest you move away from that wall," Carla pointed. Bia turned around, and edged away slowly, staring at the long creature scrambling around the walls. Tiago smiled with glee and plucked the long myriapod from the wall with his talons, causing it to writhe around in panic. All too predictably, he immediately started brandishing it at a protesting Bia, and chased her all over the hollow with it.

* * *

"Can we go in now? I'm freezing!" Crash called from outside the hollow. In the twin's attempts to tie Caio up, their intended victim had gotten lucky, and managed to dodge them, and turned the tables, and tied the twins together.

"You intended to do it to me, and I doubt you would've let me in if I said that," Caio replied, looking at the twins from the entrance. He tied the two onto a nearby branch, just close enough to the entrance such that the heater could still warm a little of the heat there.

"Y-You don't know that!" Dash protested, shivering in the cold.

"Please let us in?" Crash asked hopefully, squirming against the vines keeping him on the branch.

"Fine, but if you try and tie me outside, you know what's coming to you," Caio warned, and flew over to untie the twins. As soon as they were free, they rushed back into the hollow, to the warmth of the heater. Good for Caio, the twins decided to not try anything else on him for the time being.

"This is so boring, we just learnt to fly properly and yet we get stuck inside," Crash grumbled, walking round and round the heater as slowly as possible. Dash grunted in acknowledgment as he lied on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"Yes, very boring," Caio agreed, staring out the entrance. Dash looked up, and smirked.

"Why, because _Bia_ isn't here with you?" He asked.

"Maybe," Caio replied without really thinking. He realized what he had spouted, and groaned silently, not facing the twins.

"So Caio, do you _like_ Bia?" Dash asked, sitting up, smiling widely.

"Well, she can be sweet," Caio tried to weasel out.

"That's not what I meant. Do you _love_ her?" Dash specified.

"No?" Caio replied.

"You don't sound very confident," Crash joined in.

"I don't?" Caio asked in the same tone.

"Gee, don't you get tired of denying so much?" Dash continued teasing, enjoying every bit of embarrassment he was causing.

"Not exactly."

"You can't extinguish the _inner fires,_ " Crash exaggerated, waving his wings in an arc motion.

"Oh come on, liars disappoint me," Dash gave a mock look of disappointment at Caio, shaking his head slowly while he crossed his wings. Caio couldn't really help but laugh at his look, and Dash's mock disappointment quickly dissolved into annoyance.

* * *

Seven macaws and bats crept into an empty hollow, and looked around briefly, confirming the safety of it. A lone heater was stationed in it, but with nothing to keep warm.

Until now.

"We will use this hollow as a meeting point, and just as she instructed, we spread out in groups of two and attack the other trees. Cripple them, and push the heater out. It shouldn't be too hard," a bat went through the plan again, and the rest grunted in acknowledgment.

"Do it for as many trees as possible. Leave Felipe's tree last. We will meet back here in twenty minutes, then head together to attack Felipe's hollow."

With that, the group dispersed and executed the plan. From the distance, warming glows of orange were slowly extinguished, one by one. The harsh winds muted anything else that came next.

* * *

Felipe paced around within his hollow. The warmth of the heater was slowly becoming as good as nothing the more he paced. Something was wrong, and he could feel it. He stared outside his hollow. Something looked wrong. For the moment, he couldn't quite think of the issue, but it slowly came to him. The glowing from the heaters were gone. He spread his wings, ready to start inspecting the surroundings, and only made it to the entrance when he spotted something. In a split second, Felipe gasped and dodged sideways. Four birds landed heavily into his hollow, with killer looks. Felipe studied his enemies briefly. Two yellow macaws, and two scarlets, though the scarlet macaws were obviously not from his tribe. Without warning, the four dived toward him, talons extended, intent on ripping him apart. Felipe ducked and swerved below them, and emerged the other side, preparing to strike a blow of his own, when something hard crashed into him. He was thrown against a wall, and he saw stars as his world spun haphazardly. In his blinded state, he lashed out in fury, connecting with something soft. Almost immediately, something lashed back, and the spinning slowly faded as darkness started to engulf his world. As his energy rapidly diminished, Felipe stumbled forwards in a final attempt to fight, but blacked out the moment he tried. Seven mysterious figures surrounded him, and soon nothing remained in the hollow. A grayish ring of dust marked the area were a heater once stood. A deadly silence ensued as the winds calmed.


	10. The Hunters

"What is this?" Roberto asked, staring at the unexpected guests. Pretty much the whole scarlet tribe turned up, all battered and bruised, shivering in the cold. It was a delicate situation, and Eduardo couldn't possibly force his visitors to wait out in the cold while he decided what to do. Soon, any empty hollow left in the tribe was occupied, and the remaining scarlets were housed in volunteers' hollows. The snowy weather didn't seem to be letting up, although it didn't seem to be getting worse either. However, it still created a heavy presence of worry, and the refugees only amplified it.

Eduardo finally finished allocating homes, but he felt no content. Someone was missing, and he could feel it. It soon dawned on him

 _Where was Felipe_?

Felipe groaned as he woke up. He was in some kind of shallow tunnel, with a tiny opening, while its entrance was evidently blocked with a boulder. Light poured in from the small opening, and Felipe itched to look out from it, but his body couldn't budge. Everything was sore and aching, and the slightest movement seemed to feel like a punch to his head. His headache was only amplified again when he tried one last time to stand. The cold was helping to numb some of the pain, and his aches.

 _The cold._

There was no heater in his prison. The temperature was at a numbing degree, and his waking senses were trembling at the new difference. Weakly, he wrapped his wings around his body, flinching at the aches the movement caused. A creak distracted him from the pain. With a rumble following closely, the rock blocking his exit was pulled out. Three bats and one macaw glanced at him briefly, before rolling the rock elsewhere. As this was done, someone was revealed.

"You," Felipe glared, his muscles finally active. He slumped up against the wall, propping himself against it, maintaining his hateful glare. Crystal returned a blank stare, grunting in contempt.

"What did you do to my tribe?" Felipe demanded to know, sharply inhaling as his weakened lungs drew in more air.

"Simple. I've forced them to merge with Eduardo's tribe, so that they are all one big target," Crystal replied. "But I may consider not to strike it, if you reveal something to me."

" _May consider?_ " Felipe growled in reply, rising a little more to his full height with each word.

"Better a chance than none."

"There is no chance even after that!"

Crystal's eyes narrowed, and her voice became menacingly soft.

"This is not your decision to make."

"Yes it is," Felipe's eyes narrowed as well, and his glare intensified. Without warning, Crystal lashed out, and connected heavily with Felipe's head. He was knocked down easily, and slammed into the ground. He attempted to get up again, but failed to.

"We can both play your game, Felipe. But remember this. I win either way."

"Oh this is soooo exciting," a little voice exclaimed in a dramatic whisper. The lock clinked as it dropped to the ground, displaying a year of painstaking work in its destroyed state.

"Shall we begin our wondrous journey into the unknown?" the voice whispered once more. It's owner was perched upon the escapee's shoulder, peering intently forward.

"Yes, we shall. It's time to make our way to the enemy," her recipient replied, spreading his wings and making his way out of an open window. A cooling breeze seemed to welcome the two as they exited the human structure. A silent and minor gust of wind made itself heard as an entity soared through the sky.

"Next stop, the Amazon..."

The night sky was as dark as coal, and the usual spread of stars were fainter than usual, almost as invisible as the stars in Minnesota. Blu peered worriedly out of the hollow. The freak weather had been going on for quite some time, shouldn't it calm down by now? And the weather was not the most threatening part of the situation. The scarlet tribe's chief mysteriously disappeared, with the tribe itself displaced, and the Outcasts were getting bolder and bolder with their actions. Everything was bending slowly, and tension was sure to cause something to snap soon. A small disturbance from under his wing distracted Blu from his troubled thoughts. He shifted it slightly to accommodate the bird underneath, who was still sleeping soundly.

His family was sleeping soundly.

Jewel was leaning on him, with Carla tucked beneath her wing. Tiago and Bia were under Blu's wings, with the latter readjusting her sleeping position every once in a while, and the other snoring loudly. Blu's mood lightened a little as he used a wingtip to close Tiago's open mouth, and a small smile made its way out. The smile soon dissipated as he linked the threats to his family. Why was Crystal so stubborn with her ideals? To Blu, nothing was more important to him than his family, but apparently Crystal broke off from Eduardo so directly. What could she be thinking? And how much did she care about Eduardo and Jewel now? Blu grunted as his internal clock yelled at him to sleep; his worry had kept him awake for far too long. Just as he was about to shut his eyes to attempt to get some rest, faint shouting delayed his action. The shouting got louder and louder, and more seemed to join in. A scream shook Blu awake, and he shot up. In a chain reaction, Jewel and the kids were rudely awakened from their slumber as well. Tiago, Carla and Bia were groggily staring around, intrigued by Blu's look of worry. Jewel on the other hand was wide awake, and shot out of the hollow the moment she heard another scream.

"Stay here," Blu told the kids, and leapt out to follow Jewel. A nasty sight soon greeted them. Multitudes of fierce predators were gathered around, biting at a hollow's narrow entrance. Blu shivered in fright as he recalled what the predators were called.

 _Harpy Eagles._

Eduardo was already at the scene, yelling at the surrounding macaws to stay in a formation. An increasing number of macaws were gathered nearby, staying close together. There were a total of four eagles, with one pecking at a hollow entrance, and scrabbling at it with sharp, deadly talons. The remaining three were attempting attacks on the rest of the macaws, but the sheer number was keeping them wary.

"Close in slowly! Stay away from the talons!" Eduardo barked, leading the macaws in the middle of the formation. It was like a curve, slowly forcing the eagles to back away out of the tribe's land. Unfortunately, they weren't too cooperative, and were sending several lashes at the prey, causing disarray in closer sections of the formation.

"Charge in! Aim for the wings and tail!" Eduardo ordered. Group by group, macaws dived in an offensive, targeting the closest intruder they could find. Bolts of red and blue rammed into the eagles, some latching on with talons and beaks. Many were flung off, and some were thrown away, slamming into the nearby trees. The eagle that was picking at the hollow was forced to divert its attention, and it let loose a piercing screech of anger. One of the eagles charged forwards without warning, with sharp talons facing the crowds. There were panicked responses, and many birds ducked out of the way. One, however, was not fast enough. A scream was heard as he was hit by the assault, and he soon plummeted toward the ground, flapping madly.

"Now! While it's broken from its main group!"

Many soon responded, ferocity amplified tenfold, charging toward the eagle. It attempted to fly again, but the damage inflicted and the weight of those that latched on were simply too much to bear. The eagle soon found itself plummeting downward like its previous victim, screeching in panic and anger. The other eagles abandoned the fight, and escaped, flying off into the distance. On the ground, the eagle struggled as it wrestled with the tens and tens of birds attacking from all directions. The countless nicks soon escalated into cuts and bruises, and the battered predator soon found itself cornered. Blu circled around the formerly mighty creature, and spotted Jewel latched onto its back, furiously peaking and scratching from her position. Many others were attacking, scarlet and Spix's macaws, ramming into and scratching at the large target. The eagle seemed to let out a cry of pain, and spun violently, it's extended wings slamming into any too close. Jewel was flung off in the eagle's mad spinning, and landed in a pile of snow and dirt. Free of its burden, the eagle shot upward, escaping the scene as quickly as possible. A few briefly gave chase, but stopped as the battle lust and adrenalin wore off.

It was over.

Blu spotted a few birds support the injured macaw into a hollow, with a few others following in to check on his wounds. The cold air soon started to bite, and everyone headed back to their hollows. The sun was starting to peak, but the unexpected trouble had tired most, and it wasn't too surprising to see that most went back to rest. Harpy Eagles normally didn't venture into tribal territory, knowing from experience that so many problems would rise if they picked prey from the tribes. Something made them truly desperate. The cold had probably driven most of their usual prey into hiding, and the Eagles were probably starved enough to attempt a raid on the tribes.

The usual few macaws were handing out food as usual, but with the added scarlets, the food's supply drained twice as quickly. There was plenty left, but at the rate, the food would have to be closely monitored and rationed after a few days.

Unexpectedly, the cold had died down quite a bit, and though it was still stinging, it was much more bearable. The macaws, who mostly planned to stay in, were pleasantly surprised, and many began wandering out. Eduardo had ordered half of the tribe's adults (including the scarlets) to fetch more food, leaving the rest to watch over the kids, who took the opportunity to frolic in the snow.

As usual, Daniel and Aline left with the rest, with Daniel slipping away a little later just to avoid Aline noticing. Caio's parents also joined in the search, leaving Caio with the twins. The two were rushing around in the snow, tossing the powdery bits at each other, and pretty much everywhere else as well. Caio kept a distance from the two, ensuring that he was out of their line of sight, but still close enough for him to see them. From his hiding spot, he spotted someone landing nearby. The twins seemed to stop toying around the snow, and seemed to protest about something. Caio got out of his hiding place, and spotted the addition.

"Come on Bia! We've been cooped up inside for days!" Crash whined.

"I'm not asking you to go in, just don't stay on the snow," Bia replied, coaxing the two out.

"You don't need to listen to Dad," Dash reasoned, grabbing onto the snow with his two wings as Bia pushed him across the snow slowly.

"How are you not cold in that?" Bia asked, trying to lift Dash out of the snow.

"Aw come on, snow is fun!" Dash smiled as he flung some snow in the air, creating a small cloud of white powder. Some landed on Bia, and she swept them off just as quickly as they stayed. The twins took the hint, and tossed as much snow on Bia as possible, caking her in a frosty coat of white. Not long after, she looked like a whitish species of bird.

"Are you done trying to bury me alive?" Bia sighed, shivering slightly as she brushed off the snow. The twins laughed in reply, but ceased their bombardment, and continued to play in the piles of snow. Bia stood at a side, keeping an eye on the two passively.

"What are you doing out?" Caio asked. Bia turned around, almost knocking into him.

"Tiago and the others went to explore the rising river, but it's really cold near there, so I only stayed briefly," Bia explained. It was clear that she was a little disappointed. She had always enjoyed admiring the rainforest, and the river only rose at certain times of the year.

"Cheer up, there's always next year," Caio tried to comfort. His attempt didn't really seem to have much of an effect.

"Well, if this weather goes back to normal, it would actually be fine to go back in a month or two."

"Then there's no worry," Caio said, patching up his previous attempt.

"Do you see that?" Bia asked, squinting in the distance.

"See what?" Caio squinted as well, but wasn't able to make out anything of relevance. Bia used her wings, and turned him toward the direction. Caio looked again, and this time, he noticed two specks in the sky, slowly getting bigger over time.

"What is that?" Caio murmured, squinting to try and identify the objects. The shapes became clearer as the two objects approached, and Caio noticed that they were two birds. But something about them felt wrong. They had to be huge in order to be seen from so far. It dawned on Bia before it dawned on Caio.

"Crash! Dash! Time to go back!" Bia yelled harshly, shocking the twins. In all her time with them, she had never raised her voice so aggressively. Without much question, the two rushed back to the hollow, followed closely by Bia and Caio.

"What? What's wrong?" Caio asked, still trying to see the two figures.

"Caio, those are too big to be normal macaws!" Bia stated. "Those may be..."

A loud screech cut her short. Bia's countenance paled when her suspicions were confirmed.

"Faster!" Caio yelled, recognizing the screech. Crash and Dash soon made it into the hollow, and disappeared within. Caio and Bia were about to follow, when the dreaded creatures blocked the path. Bia and Caio froze at the sight, hovering in the air a few meters away.

 _Harpy Eagles._


	11. Double Trouble

"Eagles! Get out! Get out!"

The shouting passed from hollow to hollow, causing many to shoot out in alarm. Multiple started rushing toward the Harpy Eagles, but were simply too far to prevent what happened next. The vicious predators lashed out at their two targets, two young Spix's macaws. The two bolted away, but ended up going away from the tribe, and the pursuing eagles only made the gap bigger and bigger.

"Come on! Faster!" Caio yelled over the eagle's excited screeching. His recipient was panting heavily, unable to keep up with the physical stress of the chase. Bia could slowly feel the ache and burn in her muscles override her adrenaline and the bite of the cold, slowly causing her wings to fail. Caio was not at his top speed, flying beside Bia. The eagles chasing behind were speedily catching up, extending deadly talons at the intended victims. The yelling from the tribe got fainter and fainter as the four exited Spix's Macaw land. The few macaws chasing after the eagles strangely ceased the pursuit, refusing to follow any closer.

"Duck!"

Caio slammed into Bia's side, causing the two to barrel sharply towards a side. The area was rocky, but due to the weather, it was caked in significantly thick layers of snow. The macaws crashed into the snow, stunned briefly by the impact. Both eagles landed heavily nearby, unable to strike accurately through all the white distraction. Bia could see her vision turn double, and her head started throbbing. She felt Caio drag her by her wing, and could faintly see something large narrowly missing her. A seemingly muffled screech was registered, but her heavy breathing seemed to take over anything she heard. A dizzying wave of nausea hit her hard as she took a few more steps, but Caio pulled harder, almost dragging her across the snowy rocks, with the two Eagles pecking and slashing at them. Suddenly, Caio felt a rush of air upward, and felt the ground beneath his feet crumble downward. His instinct caused him to attempt flight, but it was too late, and both macaws tumbled into a crevice, with the snow crumbling around the sides. Caio squeezed as far into the crevice as possible, dragging Bia in front of him, wings wrapped tightly around her. There was a very brief moment of silence, before the Harpy Eagles attempted another try at the two. Snow crumbled in as the Eagles scratched at the crevice entrance, unable to fit their larger bodies into then, raining upon Caio and Bia. The adrenaline painfully faded, revealing the cutting chill of the snow, and the aching of his muscles. Caio flinched holding Bia tighter as a beak thrust through the thin opening, snapping at thin air. There was an angry screech, and the beak withdrew, only for another one to attempt the same thing.

"You idiot! Can't even catch little macaws!" A gruff voice boomed.

"Get out of the hole! You can't stay in there forever!" Another voice screeched, much higher, but just as unwelcoming.

"As if they will! Use your damn brains!"

Caio peered at the arguing eagles, considering an escape, but his muscles were aching like he'd never felt before, and Bia was probably about to pass out. His thoughts briefly wanderer to Bia, and suddenly, he realized that she was ice cold. Her body was not as warm, and cold sweat seemed to form a thin layer around her forehead and neck. Her breathing was haphazard, fast and yet it seemed to be slowing.

"Breathe! Breathe!" Caio whispered sharply, loosening his grip slightly. Bia's breathing slowed more in reaction to Caio, but it was still sharp inhaling and exhaling. Caio was about to say something else, but then snow started pouring into him. He looked up in confusion, only see one of the eagles pushing snow into the crevice.

They were trying to force them out.

Panic uncontrollably seeped into Caio's mind, and he frantically shook off the snow, but it simply went below him and the continuous stream of snow entering the crevice remained unbroken. The snow below the two macaws accumulated, slowly forcing Caio up toward the surface, and toward the threat. Devoid of any other option, Caio simply panicked.

"HELP!" He yelled out, his voice echoing for a long distance around.

"Nobody's here to help you, scum! Give up!" A gruff voice answered. More snow poured into the crevice, partially burying Caio in the white powder. Strangely, Caio felt his panic slowly die away, into an awful pit in his stomach. Tears welled at his eyes, as the eagles got closer and closer to their goal.

"I'm sorry, Bia," Caio whispered, tears escaping his tightly shut eyes. Silence continued, and the bite of a cold breeze started to make itself more known. Caio's shut eyes refused to open, and his fear was getting amplified every second. The whistle of the winds muted whatever was outside, causing a dreadful lack of detail.

Then all together, the sound of the winds died off as well. Caio's fear gave way to confusion, and his eyes slowly screwed open. The tears clouded his vision, but all he saw was two wings reaching into the hollow. Caio was briefly stunned. The eagles were _toying_ with him? Something within him snapped, and all his fear and confusion translated into pure anger. With all his might, he bit the wing closet to his face, rolling over so that Bia was below him. There was a curse, and the win retracted, pulling Caio out with it. The victim of Caio's bite slammed him into the ground, causing Caio to let go of the wing. He tumbled down some distance, slamming into a few rocks. The dizziness overtook Caio, and his clouded vision was obscured even further. Something grabbed him with talons, but Caio had already lost all of his fight, and couldn't do much to struggle. The world went black as he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Oh we're finally here!"

"No we're not, this is only the edge of the Amazon. The infestation is still quite some distance away."

"That's fine, it won't be too long now!"

* * *

Bia coughed and spluttered as the worst of her nausea passed. She forced her eyes open, propping herself up against the floor. The rocks below her were warm, and a heater stood nearby, keeping the cold at bay. A groan caught Bia's attention, and she attempted to locate the source of it, but her blurred vision disoriented her other senses. Blinking a few times to try and clear the dizziness, the surroundings made themselves clear. She was in a rocky room of some sort, with an opening not too far away. The heater was positioned in the middle of the room, along with something else. _Someone_ else. Bia went closer to the figure sprawled across the floor.

"Caio!" She called, as loud as she could. Caio seemed to twitch, but otherwise didn't really react. Bia's nausea seemed to dissipate instantly, and she rushed over to him. She pressed her head against his chest, dreading the result. A steady heartbeat calmed her, and she sighed in relief. With some effort, she dragged him towards a wall, and leaned him against it. She slumped right next to him, facing outside, panting softly. As her mind started to organize itself, the inevitable question soon hit her.

 _Where am I?_

The winds seemed to have died down, resulting in a gentle breeze that whistled calmly in the background. It's recognizable pattern in its tune continued, until it was broken by the flapping of wings. Bia peered toward the entrance, not sure who to expect. If the harpy eagles had brought her back to their nest, she or Caio would've been eaten already; if the Spix's macaws found them and brought them back, they would at least be in a hollow. The figure that appeared at the entrance soon shot down all her doubts, and aroused twice as many new ones.

"You?"

"I see you recognize me. Do you know who I am?" The macaw asked. It was a Spix's macaw, though her appearance was different from the ones Bia had grown so accustomed to seeing in the tribe. Her feathers seemed more ruffled, and she had a more or less expressionless look compared to the frequently joyous Spix's macaws.

"You're Crystal, aren't you?" Bia inferred, still slowly taking in the macaw's appearance. Crystal nodded slowly, examining Bia thoroughly from her spot. Bia felt a wave of unease, and couldn't help but feel spooked. There was an aura about Crystal, like the last time they'd met. It wasn't something Bia could easily forget. It was an aura of control, an aura of authority. And also an aura of fear.

"Why did you save us?" Bia asked, staring warily at Crystal.

"You're a smart one. I'm sure you know," she replied, taking a step towards Bia.

"You want something?" Bia guessed, voice soft, half afraid of inciting her host.

"Doing anything requires a motive. And a motive is always a want," Crystal reflected Bia's guess back to square one, and peered at Caio, with slight curiosity. Worry etched into Bia as she began to wonder if Caio had anything to do with it.

"Madame," a voice interrupted. A bat was peeking in from the entrance. Crystal left with the bat, without saying anything else. Bia took the chance she had, and tried to look out the entrance. A largely built scarlet blocked her view before she could decipher her surroundings. The sentry's eyes narrowed, and Bia instinctively edged back into the room, out of the sentry's view.

* * *

"Hey is that a crocodile?" Tiago pointed at what seemed like a piece of debris floating around in the river.

"I'm pretty sure that's just a log," Carla replied, observing the same object. The object seemed to drift toward the river bank. A scaled, streamlined body emerged from the murky depths, revealing the full predator that was once concealed from sight.

"Ha! Told ya!" Tiago whooped, still staring at the reptile from the skies.

"Guys, you won't believe what we just saw!" Bruno yelled from a distance, with Ana close by.

"There's a giant snake not too far from here!" Ana exclaimed in excitement. The four raced to the snake's last known location, and sure enough, the long animal was still sliding silently through the dense greenery on the forest floor.

"Hey, I've seen this kind before. In Rio," Tiago recalled.

"Yea Bia said it was a... Er... constrictor, was it?" Carla tried to remember.

" _Boa_ constrictor," Tiago corrected, looking in fascination at the snake.

"It makes me wonder how you remember those things," Carla smirked. "And not the alphabet."

"The alphabet is so boring!" Tiago sighed.

"What's the alphabet?" Ana asked, looking completely confounded at the new word.

"Humans use these drawings to communicate sometimes. The Alphabet is what the drawings are called," Carla explained her interpretation.

"I'm going to forget anything to do with your 'alphabet', all it's doing is confusing me," Bruno stated bluntly.

"It's actually quite handy in Rio, but there's hardly anything to read here," Carla shrugged, looking around for anything interesting.

"Hey guys! I found the best thing ever!" Tiago yelled from a distance. In the brief conversation about the alphabet, he had slipped away to look for anything entertaining.

"I am actually worried about getting eaten by that," Ana commented, looking from a distance.

"It's huge," Bruno stared at the subject, which was nested in a hole in the ground. It was a gigantic tarantula, nearly as wide as Blu, and just as broad.

"It gives me the creeps. I don't want to be near it," Ana concluded, leaving the scene.

"Oh Bia would _love_ this," Tiago laughed, but was unwilling to get too close as well.

* * *

"This area seems vaguely familiar!"

"Yes, we are here. Just a little more."

"Look! It's a macaw!"

"Splendid, shall we ask for directions?"

"Oh I'm sure she'd love to help us!"

* * *

Ana was on a tree beside the river. There were multiple partially submerged ones near the middle of the large water body, the result of the rising river. Ana peered into the murky waters, trying to make out her own reflection, but was unable to do so, other than a slight discoloration among the muddy brown. Ana grunted at the disappointing outcome, and leaned against the bark, waiting for the rest to finish fussing around the tarantula.

"Who would even like things like those, they are hairy, and creepy..."

Ana grumbled to herself, completely bored with nothing to do. The flapping of wings heightened her spirits, and she turned to look at who was coming. Her eyes widened, and her instinct overtook her mind, attempting to shoot away.

Too late.

* * *

"What was that scream?" Tiago looked up, away from the tarantula.

"That's Ana!" Carla recognized, and immediately bolted toward the source. Bruno and Tiago were quick to follow, discarding their interest in the arachnid. The many branches and leaves barred them from making it across to Ana easily, but the process slowly got easier as the river came into sight.

* * *

"Where is the tribe, girl?" A cockatoo demanded, with a powerful talon holding Ana tightly against a branch. Ana couldn't respond, fear and shock overtaking any logic she could've used. She struggled fruitlessly against the talon.

"Shut up!" The cockatoo yelled, silencing and halting Ana's actions. Her widened eyes, stared at her captives, and she shivered at the sight of them. A large cockatoo, with ruffled feathers, and a sort of attachment to the back of his wing. A bright purple frog was perched on the cockatoo's shoulder, grinning widely at Ana.

"Come on, tell us where! You wouldn't want to be poisoned now, would you?" The frog smiled as sweetly as possible, edging closer with her last statement. Ana pinched her beak shut, shivering more. Her face was dangerously close to the frog, much too close for comfort. The frog reached closer, with a webbed hand almost toughing Ana, who tried to edge as far away as possible. A loud interruption halted the frog. Ana, and the two aggressors turned to look. Tiago, Carla and Bruno were there, staring in shock at the scene.

"Oh, more guests. How perfect!"


	12. Hunted Hunter

"Nigel!" Tiago yelled, glaring at the cockatoo. After Nigel's dramatic failure to kill Blu, Blu and Jewel had no choice but to tell Tiago, Bia and Carla who Nigel was.

"He...he can fly?" Carla whispered to Tiago.

"Blu's little pests are here! Wonderful!" Nigel laughed. He turned his attention back to Ana, tightening his grip on her. She inhaled sharply, and struggled harder. "You must be the last little pest!"

"Let her go!" Tiago yelled, already prepared to attack.

"Or what? Are you going to bite my tail?" Nigel asked sarcastically. "What will you say if I crush your sister?" Upon finishing, his grip tightened even more. Ana's face started turning a slight shade of red, and her breathing turned into gasping. Tiago instantly reacted, and out of everyone's expectations, charged at Nigel. Carla and Bruno paled, and tried to stop him, but it was too late. Tiago successfully rammed into Nigel's chest, and the victim stumbled, almost losing his footing on the branch he was on. In a brief recovery, Nigel slapped at Tiago with a wing, but the latter had latched onto Nigel's feathers, and ripped off a few when he was dislodged. Nigel yelled in fury, and grabbed Tiago's neck with his free talon, and slammed him onto the branch.

"Anyone next?" Nigel yelled, anger burning through his eyes.

"Go," Bruno whispered to Carla. "Go find help, he wants you. Get out of here."

Carla glared at Bruno, furious that he could ask her to abandon her sibling.

"This will help him. Without you, that drama queen won't harm them! GET OUT!" Bruno hissed, giving Carla no other choice. Unwillingly, Carla flew away. Nigel was quick to follow, but Bruno got in his way, blocking the cockatoo from continuing his chase. Nigel barreled into the macaw, causing both of them to plummet downward, with Bruno underneath. Bruno latched onto Nigel tightly, sinking his talons as deeply as possible. Tiago and Ana struggled harder, sensing a chance of escape, but Nigel's steely grip didn't loosen. With controlled force, Nigel slammed Bruno into a group of shrubs. Bruno, got up, but soon slumped back onto he ground, unable to fight back.

"Once I'm done with these two, you're in deep trouble!" Nigel spat, and took flight, bring Ana and Tiago with him.

"Oh Nigel, that was amazing! Seems like you haven't lost it yet!"

"Of course I haven't lost it, Gabi. Fighting is something some are born with," Nigel smirked at his catches, who were glaring back.

"Beating up kids is fighting?" Tiago hissed, narrowing his eyes.

"Dashing in mindlessly is clever?" Nigel retorted, tightening his grip slightly on Tiago, causing him to cough. "This one will learn some respect soon enough!"

* * *

"Two of our macaws were captured by Outcasts!" A macaw reported as soon as Roberto came back.

"What? Who? How?" Roberto shot back, not believing his ears.

"Bia and Caio," the messenger replied. "Two eagles attacked the tribe, and separated them from us. We gave chase until they entered Outcast land. Then this large group of Outcasts got too close, and we couldn't get closer. The Outcasts chased off the eagles, and they brought Bia and Caio back to the Pit of Doom."

"Eduardo is not going to like this. Assemble a small team of fighters. We will go to the Pit the moment Eduardo allows it," Roberto replied, deep in thought.

"Roberto! Roberto!"

Roberto turned toward the call, only to spot Carla flying frantically towards him.

"What? What's wrong?" Roberto asked, expecting her to tell him about Bia's situation.

"It's Tiago, Ana and Bruno! They were taken by Nigel!"

* * *

"Where...are we?" Caio groaned.

"We're in a Outcast home," Bia replied.

"What?" Caio croaked, trying to sit up. Bia stopped him from doing so immediately, and gently edged him back down.

"You've over exerted yourself, rest," Bia urged.

"What...what happened?" Caio asked, rubbing his head with a wing.

"Outcasts assaulted the eagles, and brought us here," Bia explained briefly.

"So we are...prisoners?" Caio guessed, staring at the entrance.

"In a way, yes," Bia admitted, looking at the entrance as well. She could imagine the same sentry standing close by, keeping a watchful eye on them. Caio grunted, and lied down fully, staring at the ceiling.

"Thank you," Bia muttered. Caio peered at her for some time, before finally replying.

"N...no problem..."

* * *

"What do you mean by my brood is in trouble?" Jewel's once calm composure immediately shattered and her tone was spiked with aggression and worry. Roberto hesitated briefly, but decided that he should directly tell the couple what happened.

"Bia is being held by Outcasts, and Tiago was captured by Nigel," Roberto reported.

" _Nigel?!"_ Blu shrieked, his feathers spiking up. "Where are they? We have to find them!"

"Why is nothing being done?!"

"Calm down! Eduardo is preparing two groups. One to go over to the Outcasts to request for the captured kids, and the other to hunt Nigel," Roberto said. Jewel and Blu looked at each other, and Roberto got the idea that they needed time to discuss.

"The groups are going to leave in around five minutes. We're gathering near the waterfall," he finished, and left.

"How did this happen?" Jewel muttered, holding her forehead with a wing.

"I don't know," Blu replied. "You're more physically inclined, I think you should join the hunt for Nigel, and I'll join the group to the Pit to Doom."

* * *

"Madame," A stout macaw bowed briefly to Crystal before continuing his message. "A group led by Eduardo is here to see you."

Crystal's eyes narrowed at Eduardo's arriving figure, and she analyzed the group's members. She recognized Blu and Mimi among the group.

"It has come to my knowledge that your tribe saved two of my tribe's young. I have come to thank you, and bring them home," Eduardo said in his usual gruff voice. He didn't want to seem so grateful, but with his grandchild at stake, along with another child, he couldn't risk anything.

"Did you think it would be that easy?" Crystal asked.

"They are children, Crystal, what do you actually plan to do with them?" Eduardo dropped his act immediately, worry slowly attacking his mind.

"What I plan to do with them is my concern. Unless of course, you give something in return," Crystal hinted. Eduardo growled under his breath upon realizing that Crystal was using children as bargaining chips.

"What do you want?" He asked in a strained manner.

"Simple. Evict the scarlet tribe. It is time they met their glorious end," Crystal proposed.

"You want to murder an entire tribe?" Eduardo accused, anger flaring.

"Think of as a cleansing of weakness," she corrected.

"Fine. You want to _purge_ an entire tribe," Eduardo said slowly with a hint of menace. Crystal stared back for sometime, and then replied.

"Same as before, what I do with the scarlet tribe is my business." Crystal paused for sometime, and then added, "that is, if you agree." Blu stared at Eduardo in worry. Half of him wanted to agree with Crystal, the other half wanted to disagree immediately.

"Why are you using children for such a cruel trade off?" Blu found himself murmuring. Blu felt everyone's eyes burning into him, and he continued. "Let's be rational about this. You have the ability to just set Bia and Caio free. You don't need to kill all the scarlets to achieve your victory. You're not even using the land you took from them. What have they done to you to deserve any of this?" Crystal didn't react for sometime, but soon started chuckling.

"You don't know anything about your tribe do you?" She asked, silencing Blu.

"Eduardo, you have three days to consider my offer. And maybe you should consider telling Blu a little history. That is all. Farewell." With that, Crystal turned and left. Without any other choice, the Spix's macaws left as well.

"What do we do now?" Mimi turned to Eduardo, who sighed.

"We have greater numbers. Maybe we should bring the whole tribe the next time," he replied.

"But they would attack anyway. We would probably win in the end, but with heavy losses," Blu sighed. As much as he wanted to help Bia and Caio, it was irrational to trade an entire tribe for them.

 _Bia... Oh no..._

Blu's calm was shattered the moment he thought of Bia, and the thought of losing her scared him.

 _Maybe Jewel is doing better..._

* * *

Jewel was growing more and more agitated by the moment. The search was turning out to be fruitless, and no leads could be found. The only lead they had was the spot where Tiago, Carla, Ana and Bruno were attacked, and there were no feathers or other clues pointing to a better lead. She combed through the area for the umpteenth time, being extra thorough with the search. She walked through some shrubbery, pushing the irritating leaves aside. Coughing distracted her from her thoughts, and immediately, she zoomed in toward the noise. Hidden among the plants, was a Spix's macaw.

"Bruno!" Jewel recognized. She gently secured her Talons around his torso, and brought him up.

"Roberto!" She yelled, trying to get the attention of anyone. Roberto's team soon showed up (Jewel was the only one who stayed behind to search for clues, while the rest split into teams to hunt for Nigel), and one of them brought Bruno back to the tribe.

"Okay, we found Bruno, but where's Ana and Tiago?" Jewel growled, going back to her search.

"We will find them. It's only a matter of time," Roberto assured. "Come on, team. Let's continue."

* * *

"Oh aren't you adorable!" Gabi exclaimed, latched onto Tiago's back. Tiago and Ana were hung upside down tightly to the ceiling with vines and roots, along with an amount of sticky sap that Nigel came across.

"Why don't you let me down, and I'll show you who's adorable!" Tiago growled, struggling against his bonds.

"Now, now, don't forget your situation. You're in no position to make threats," Nigel reminded.

"And as for you," Nigel turned to look at Ana. "Your silence is rather disturbing. You were a very chatty know-it-all the last time I saw you."

"Leave her alone!" Tiago glared at Nigel.

"Oh my! I'm so scared!" Nigel chuckled, and moved closer to Tiago. "What are you going to do about it?"

"You know, Bia looks strangely different from the way I remembered it," Gabi squinted at Ana, and hopped onto her. She scrambled from Ana's back to her face, and stared at Ana's eyes, causing her to flinch. Tiago looked in silence, unsure of how to react. A tense moment followed for some time as Nigel awaited Gabi's results.

"Ah well! People can grow a lot in some time!" Gabi exclaimed, and hopped onto the ground. Nigel snorted at the outcome, and peered out of the cave that they were in.

"Ok, I will go and find something to bring back. You stay here and tighten anything that comes loose," Nigel instructed. Gabi saluted Nigel as he left, and turned to look at the captives with wide, round eyes. Without warning, she leaped onto Tiago's face, and sat upside down on his head. In response, he shook his head at the irritant, but Gabi stayed, and he soon gave up.

"Oh what shall we do in this time?" She asked, poking Tiago's nostrils playfully.

"Stop that!" Tiago demanded, shaking his head once again.

"Why so angry?" Gabi teased, and flicked at one of Tiago's crest feathers.

"Why would I not be angry with you annoying me?"

"I don't know, but you could be feeling other emotions instead," Gabi said, and walked across Tiago's face onto his chest. Tiago struggled to see her at the angle, but could barely make out her silhouette.

"Why not feel happy for me?" Gabi smirked, and tickled Tiago's chin. The latter flinched at the sensation, and shook his head violently, almost hitting Gabi in the process.

"My, my! How rude!" Gabi pouted and hopped off Tiago. "Maybe you'll be a little nicer." The amphibian crawled onto the ceiling, and onto Ana's back. The itchy feel caused Ana to twitch a little. If Tiago wasn't in his situation, he would've laughed at Ana's face. _Isn't the frog poisonous?_ Ana recalled Gabi's first threat when Nigel was demanding to know the tribe's location. She shivered slightly, not sure of what to expect.

"Why are you shaking?" Gabi laughed at her.

"Y...you're poisonous?" Ana murmured. Gabi laughed for a moment, but then the significance of what Ana said hit her fully.

"Wait a minute," Gabi realized. "You're not Bia!" Tiago paled when he heard her statement, not sure of how to respond.

"Oh my, Nigel is not going to like this!" Gabi shook her head slowly for added effect. "Do you know something about it? And who are you anyway?" Gabi latched onto Ana's face, and stared into her eyes once again. Ana didn't answer, and crooked her head as far back as possible, of course to no effect.

"What is with you and staring silently?" Gabi asked, hopping onto Ana's beak. "And how bout you? What do you know about this, Tiago?"

"I know that you must have horrible memory to not notice for so long," Tiago replied. Gabi made a strange growling noise while dramatically flailing her tiny arms. In one large leap, with her mouth wide open, she flew toward Tiago's left talon. Tiago braced for some form of pain, and so did Ana. A small thud was heard when Gabi made contact, and there was brief silence. Tiago's face of shock dissolved into snickering and giggling all of a sudden, and he started writhing around in his bonds. Ana looked in confusion for some time before giggling at the situation.

" _Why_ are you _laughing_? This is not _supposed_ to be funny!" Gabi shrieked, and bit down again.

" _Stop tickling me!_ " Tiago laughed.

" _This is not supposed to tickle!_ " Gabi yelled back, trying again. Ana laughed at the scene, unable to really control herself despite the situation.

" _Get off!_ " Tiago replied between his laughing, red faced already.

"Not till I hear you _scream_ in _pain_! And you! This is not funny!" Gabi screeched, pointing at Ana.

"Oh what are you gonna do? Nibble my foot?" Ana laughed, fear of Gabi fully evaporating.

"Maybe she will. But I definitely won't be so kind," a voice stated bluntly, causing Tiago and Ana to choke down their laughter. Nigel had returned, and in his talons, a few Brazil nuts dangled idly.

"Oh, Nigel, we have a problem. This bird we've captured isn't Bia," Gabi notified. Nigel narrowed his eyes at Ana, causing her to gulp.

"What is the name of this pest?" Nigel snorted, continuing his glare.

"I don't know," Gabi replied, leaning on Tiago's toe. Nigel watched briefly, and spat at a corner. The blob of semi-liquid slowly crawled down the wall, and slumped into the hollow base. Nigel took slow steps towards Ana, the contraption attached to the back of his wing making soft clinking as he did so. Ana looked in fascination and fear at Nigel, wondering what the little machine actually did.

"Who are you, pest?" Nigel repeated, slowly and menacingly. Ana pinched her beak shut, not leaking any details.

"Gabi," Nigel called.

"Yes, my honey plum?"

"Find out for me. Use any means necessary. And here's lunch," Nigel cracked open a shell, revealing the flesh within the Brazil nuts. "I'll be hunting for Bia and Carla. A little reunion of their generation would be so entertaining." With that, the cockatoo left the shelter, preparing to hunt for the tribe.

* * *

" _There!_ " a macaw hissed, pointing at a jagged white feather. Jewel burst forward, and picked it up delicately with her wings.

"I'd say it's a good chance this belongs to Nigel," Jewel concluded. Roberto looked at the sky, which had turned back to its clouded gray. The first few flakes of snow began their descent once more, landing softly on the creatures below.

"We better hurry, the weather might worsen soon," Roberto warned, but Jewel had already gone ahead of him. He signaled for the rest to follow, and the group headed deeper into the forest.


	13. Past and Present

"I wonder how Tiago, Ana and Bruno are doing," Caio told Bia plainly. The initial panic from realizing the situation had long faded, and was replaced with boredom.

"They're probably home by now," Bia sighed. All she wanted to have at the moment would be an interesting book to read. Nothing calmed her down or passed time like a book would.

"Is the bugger still outside?" Caio pointed at the entrance. Bia got up, and waltzed towards the direction. Anything to do would be good. She peered out, and as expected, met the glaring eyes of the usual sentry. She frowned back, and then slowly returned to Caio's side.

"Unfortunately, yes," Bia replied simply, sitting next to Caio.

"We need to do something," Caio said, standing up. "I'm already tired of resting."

"You're tired of being tired?" Bia asked dubiously. Caio didn't reply, and walked toward the entrance. He hadn't seen the sentry before.

"What is with you kids and peeking out? Stay in!" The guard yelled, shocking Caio.

"Alright! No need to shout," Caio grumbled, returning to his initial spot.

"That guard is one grouch," he said when he was sure that he was out of the sentry's earshot. Bia shrugged. She looked around briefly, and her eyes fell on the heater in the room. She moved toward it, and picked at the base, looking around it.

"What are you doing?" Caio asked as she flicked open a small hatch on the heater. She peered inside, looking at the batteries and exposed components.

"I should've read that book on electricity first," she grumbled, looking at the various colored wires and batteries.

"On what?"

"Electricity. It's a form of energy that humans harness to power their various equipment," Bia explained.

"Energy? Power...?"

"Never mind," Bia sighed, and shut the hatch.

"Maybe you should pick up reading," Bia smiled. "It may fix that head of yours."

"I can read. But I choose not to," Caio yawned in reply.

"Wait. You're literate?"

"You thought you were the only one?" Caio smirked.

"Well, yes."

"In what language?"

"Language...? Another human thing?"

Bia looked back in annoyance. It was difficult to convey anything with the exposure difference.

"A language is a system of communication for any community or society," Bia replied.

"I think it's Portuguese," Caio replied.

"That's a whole different language from what I read," Bia groaned. So close and yet so far.

"And some rusty English," Caio added. Bia's expression brightened up significantly.

"That's great! Maybe you can read the books I have!"

"Whoa, slow down! We're still captives," Caio reminded.

"Wow. Mood-killer," Bia replied, excitement vanishing, with an annoyed frown to replace it. Caio chuckled at her expression, and crossed his wings.

"Well, what could Crystal even plan to do to us anyway?"

"She seems like a psychopath to me... Who knows that she'll do," Bia sighed. "You are right. We have to do something."

"Maybe an escape would be as simple as bolting out the entrance," Caio suggested.

"That's a big risk," Bia scoffed.

"What can possibly be worse?"

"I guess we could...try?"

"We might need a distraction..."

* * *

"Why do you even want to keep such simple information to yourself?" Gabi groaned, poking Ana's face with a thin branch.

"Because creeps like you and Nigel love exploiting simple information!" Tiago replied for Ana.

"Oh quiet you, I'm not even talking to you," Gabi hushed, pressing the tip of the branch against Tiago's beak. Tiago opened his beak as wide as possible, and snapped down, but Gabi brought the branch out of the way just in time. "Do you have to try and bite _everything?_ "

"Everything related to you!" Tiago retorted. Ana had returned to her originally quiet state, not saying or discussing much. It partially had something to do with seeing Nigel, and the fact that the kidnappers wanted her name. Something that seemed so harmless, but yet Gabi's attempts were worrying Ana, and she decided to keep her beak shut.

"Honestly, what is the point of keeping that tiny bit of harmless info?" Gabi asked, poking Ana with the branch. Ana didn't reply, and looked away.

"What do you even want with her? You know she isn't Bia!" Tiago argued. Gabi turned to face him, and smiled.

"Well the more the merrier!" She said, poking Tiago's beak with the tip of the branch. Tiago saw it coming, and bit onto it, causing Gabi to screech and try to pull it out. To no avail. Tiago soon pulled the branch away, and continued to hold the branch in his beak.

"Really?" Gabi shrieked, glaring at Tiago, who returned a smug expression.

* * *

"Ready yourselves. We're here," Blu instructed. The small team hovered near the border. "Remember the objectives. We need to find and rescue the children, and then bring them back to the tribe. If possible we need to find Felipe too." The four macaw's following Blu nodded.

"Alright. Let's go."

"Ready Bia?" Caio whispered. Bia nodded, and looked at the heater. She opened the small hatch at the heater, and fiercely ripped out one of the wires. The heater flickered off, and it's orange glow dissipated. Bia rushed toward Caio's position, which was above the entrance. The cold air soon trickled in, chilling the two. Footsteps echoed from outside the room, and the kids could make out a shadow, presumably the shadow o the sentry.

"What the?" A gruff voice murmured. He stepped inside, looking everywhere. Everywhere, except up. Bia and Caio silently dropped behind him, and snuck out the entrance. The chilling winds greeted them, but their exhilaration blanked out the cold, and they took flight, leaving the Outcast borders. Little did they know...

* * *

Blu and his team peeked inside the rocky room. A burly scarlet was cursing and swearing, frantically looking for something, and a heater was in the middle of the room, somehow off. The scarlet was ranting to himself for a moment, and Blu's eyes widened as he mentioned kids. Without much warning, he charged in, along with the rest of his team. The scarlet was taken by surprise, and the 5 macaw's easily pinned him down.

"Where are the Spix's Macaws?" Blu demanded, glaring into the scarlet's eyes.

"Well, they ran away," he replied, somewhat angry.

"What?" Blu almost shrieked at the thought of coming all the way for no reason. "You're lying!"

"Then be my guest and search for them!" The captive spat.

"Where are they?!" Blu hissed, more of a demand than a question.

"I already said, they escaped. If you don't believe me, too bad," the scarlet replied calmly. Blu glared into his eyes for a moment, and then sighed, releasing his frustration. He nodded at one of the Spix's macaws, and the latter slammed the scarlet's head against the ground. The victim ceased to move, unconscious.

"We should find Felipe. If the kids did escape, they should be able to get back," Blu pondered out loud. The others nodded, and stealthily darted out. Blu took one last look at the unconscious sentry, and headed out as well.

* * *

"We're almost there!" Caio beamed, recognizing the Brazil nut grove. Bia smiled as well. Everything was going to be alright. They would make it home, safe and sound, and nothing was left in their way…

"The waterfall!" Bia made out in the distance. The sight of the same old waterfall had never seemed as sweet, and it served to motivate the two.

"Where do you think you're going?" a strangely familiar voice asked. Caio was about to pause, but Bia immediately remembered the voice.

"Don't stop! Go! Go!" Bia warned, and the two sped up, but it was too late. Mighty talons grabbed onto them, and pinned them against a thick branch.

"I can remember you clearly now, Bia," their captor whispered triumphantly. Caio and Bia struggled under the grasp of their captor, but to not much effect. Both couldn't see who the assaulter was, but Bia long knew the identity of him.

"Miss me? I'm sure you do."

"Don't you have a date with an amphibian, _Nigel_?" Bia growled, but was silenced as she got pushed harder against the branch.

"Oh Gabi and I have long come to terms that we were not meant for each other, I'm sure she'd happily tell you _all_ about it." With a witch-like cackle, Nigel took lift, tightly holding Bia and Caio in his talons. Bia could feel herself losing hope as the waterfall grew further and further… until it vanished behind the dense jungle.

* * *

Crystal glared at the unconscious sentry sprawled on the floor.

"You had one job," she hissed, considering a punishment. But there wasn't time for it. She turned to her bodyguards, and flatly told them to search for the macaws before they got back. As the three took off, Crystal followed for a while, and then broke off in another direction. The others fanned out as well, maximising the searched area. It didn't take long before Crystal found a lead. A ruffle of white feathers and blue feathers. She let out a low whistle, signalling for her bodyguards to return to her. She picked up one of the blue feathers, looking at its every detail. It belonged to a young macaw.

"Seems like someone else has our prisoners," she told the returned bodyguards. "And that someone is not a Spix's macaw."

* * *

Jewel scoured the shrubs, trying to spot more leads. Roberto's team had went ahead, searching from the skies and covering as much ground as possible. It was the only time Jewel wasn't being rash in her actions. And with good reason. Without finding proper leads, the search would be based on chance, and Jewel was definitely not going to let the kids' fate fall under mere chance. Especially since Tiago was one of the kids. Roberto landed on a nearby branch. Jewel looked at him, desperately hoping that he had found the cockatoo. Roberto's expression of disappointment already gave away the answer.

"It's like he never even existed," Roberto said.

"If you were Nigel, where would you hide," Jewel asked. Roberto stared back with a confused look.

"I guess I'd look for some place hidden from plain sight?" Roberto asked.

"Yes. And that could be a cave, a hollow, a ravine..." Jewel stated, getting more visually frustrated with each addition.

"Juju, calm down, we will find them," Roberto assured for the countless time in the same day.

"Find who?" A voice asked from behind. Jewel and Roberto stared back, feathers spiked at the sudden, unwelcoming voice. It unforgettably belonged to only one person they could think of. A figure emerged from a dense packing of leaves. A Spix macaw, with a large bat and scarlet by her side.

Crystal.

"What are you doing here?" Jewel growled, remembering Bia.

"Bia escaped," Crystal stated simply.

"You want to capture her again?" Jewel assumed. Anger boiled within her like a raging torrent of lava, ready to pop out like anytime.

"Capture? She was only held there, and she definitely wasn't treated like a prisoner," Crystal replied.

"Then why would she escape? Because she's bored?" Jewel shot in anger.

"Because, like you, she thought that she was a prisoner," Crystal frowned back

"What do you plan to do to her," Jewel growled, mentally preparing for a fight.

"Can't I see my own granddaughter?"

" _No_. She isn't _your_ granddaughter."

Crystal glanced at her bodyguards briefly. The bat and scarlet nodded knowingly, and disappeared into the vegetation.

"Roberto, find Bia before they do," Jewel whispered to Roberto. He opened his beak to protest, but stopped as he noticed the worry in her eyes.

"Alright. Stay careful," Roberto reluctantly darted up above the trees, vanishing from sight. Jewel focused her gaze on Crystal, and bent slightly forward, bracing for any sort of attack. Contrary to her expectation, the macaw didn't move. Crystal returned a neutral stare, and stood, doing nothing. Jewel frowned slightly as she realized that the coldness from Crystal's eyes was gone.

"I would never attack you," she said, maintaining her neutral pose. Jewel relaxed slightly, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"For years, I thought you were gone," Crystal continued, looking down slightly. "But when you came back, you ran into Eduardo first. I feared that I lost you again."

"Why?" Jewel asked. "Why would you suddenly have some extreme want for revenge and leave Dad behind?"

Crystal's eyes seemed to dull slightly at the mention of Eduardo.

"You were young at the time. You probably never heard of Felipe's father, or what he imposed on us after Andro's disgusting strike on us."

"But we are at peace now! Why ruin that?"

"Do you know what happened? Andro's team attacked everyone that remained at home, all the non-fighters! The children, the injured, they were all there!" Crystal's eyes flared up with a new anger, and Jewel was slightly taken aback at the sight.

"That's not all of it. We had to stop the fighting, we were in no position to continue after the fire. So in that scum tribe's victory, they _imposed_ a cruel set of rules on us; we lost the entire grove, and the river was off limits. They expanded their borders right to our doorstep. Anybody that goes within looking distance of the border could have been beaten up for trespassing! Just when we were helpless, they stepped all over us!"

Jewel watched, not sure of her stand any longer.

"Eduardo chose to forget it, and take no action when he agreed to the Pit of Doom," Crystal continued. "That was the last straw. They cannot go free so easily after what they've done."

"But this is a whole new generation, you're punishing them for something they didn't do," Jewel argued.

"No. Half of them are still there, acting as though nothing ever happened," Crystal stated. Jewel paused for a moment, wanting to shut herself from anything else Crystal said, wanting to yell and call her a liar. But what reason would she have? A faint yell snapped her out of her thoughts. Jewel and Crystal looked around, trying to trace the source of the noise. Jewel's eye widened as the yell sounded again.

" _Bia_!" She yelled back, immediately rushing after the noise. Crystal followed as well without any hesitation. Soon, the source came into sight. A dirty white streak flying away from the pursuers. _Nigel_.

"Stop running, coward!" Jewel screeched, hot on Nigel's tail.

"Fine!" He replied, abruptly turning around and slamming Jewel against a tree.

"Mom!" Bia tried to scramble out of Nigel's grip, but her attempt was just as successful as her previous tries. Nigel took a sharp turn, rushing away from his pursuers... only to be knocked down by Crystal. Nigel slammed, back first into a tree, and a shrill snap was heard as the little mechanism attached to him broke. Nigel recovered instantly, and launched himself at Crystal, causing both to drop to the forest floor. Jewel hovered nearby for an opening, but the two were fiercely battling, and Jewel could not clearly aim at her target. Nigel's old sarcastic and mocking attitude was not present in the fight. Crystal could fight just as well, or better, cutting him any opportunity to waste energy on speaking.

"Mom!" A voice cut Jewel from her thoughts.

"Bia! Caio! Return to the tribe, now!" Jewel ordered. Bia and Caio nodded, and rushed away.

Crystal and Nigel soon broke away from each other briefly, giving Jewel the chance that she needed. With a swift and precise dive, she slammed into Nigel, knocking him back. Nigel growled, and tried to fight back, but Crystal barreled heavily into him. The Spix's macaws assaulted Nigel one after the other, slowly reducing his stamina with each hit. Soon, Nigel attempted to escape, and tried to take flight... only to realize that he was grounded. The mechanism aiding his flight was broken. In a last ditch effort, he began to scurry away, desperate to escape in any means. Crystal watched briefly, and let out a low, shrill whistle. Nigel only managed to vanish from sight a few seconds later, only to be dragged back out by a large bat and a scarlet. The cockatoo cursed and swore, struggling with his remaining might. A futile effort.

"He can rot in the caves," Crystal spat, and the Outcasts nodded.

"Wait!" Nigel screeched. "You don't know where your two little babies are." he added calmly, smirking at Jewel. Her face paled, and she lunged forward, grabbing Nigel's throat. She glared into his eyes, squeezing his neck hard until his smirk died off.

"Where are they?" Jewel growled menacingly. Nigel laughed weakly in reply, but stopped as Jewel tightened her grip.  
"Why not we have a deal?" He proposed, his smirk returning. Crystal looked on in mild interest, her previous cold stare returning.


End file.
